Please do not have your conscience, says Zuma on ANC ‘traitors’

The president says MPs who voted against him in parliament should be taken to a disciplinary committee as they have 'broken the law'.

President Jacob Zuma has spoken out about ANC MPs who voted against him in the no-confidence motion in parliament last week.

Speaking at a cadres’ forum organised by the ANC Youth League in uPhongolo in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday, Zuma reportedly told the crowd that the ANC constitution should be applied against those MPs who his wife Thobeka Madiba-Zuma has called “traitors”.

The president reportedly read excerpts from the ANC constitution that prohibited members from collaborating with “counter-revolutionary forces” or other parties against the ANC, TimesLive has reported.

The president told the gathering that if any MP committed “these acts”, the ANC should take them to a disciplinary committee as they had “broken the law”.

“The issue of what happened in Parliament is something I will discuss with the officials‚ but that’s my business,” Zuma said.

“We talk about everything as officials. I’m sure even officials will be asking what members are saying‚ but that’s not my business.

“My business is that‚ as the president‚ I will express my dissatisfaction about the conduct of some members and why,” he was quoted as saying.

The president further spoke out against MPs who said they would vote with their conscience, saying they were taking the ruling party for granted.

“You hear a person saying: ‘I’m following my conscience.’ Please do not have your conscience; have an ANC conscience. The unity of the ANC is key and paramount to solving problems. Let’s not do otherwise. Many people died for this freedom and we are just toying with it‚” he was quoted as saying.

The no-confidence motion in Zuma last week saw history being made after about 30 ANC MPs voted against the president through a secret ballot.

This after EFF leader Julius Malema revealed in an interview that he had spoken to 60 MPs who told him they would vote with the opposition to finally take out the president, though some seem to have changed their minds as only half of them kept their word.

Though the motion failed, Malema said he was happy with the results, saying his party would keep “eating the elephant” until it was completely finished.

“As long as he’s there, we are going to do everything in our power to win the necessary majority from the ANC because, bit by bit, they are coming back to their senses. They are realising that it is wrong to protect Zuma against the people,” he said.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has since suggested ANC MPs should take a lie-detector test to find out which MPs voted against the president, though he made a U-turn and said the suggestion was made in “jest”.