ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at the party's parliamentary lekgotla in Boksburg with chief whip Pammy Majodina. Photo: ANC/Facebook
The African National Congress (ANC) parliamentary lekgotla underway in Ekurhuleni is aware of a “coalition” by opposition parties to remove the governing party from power, said party chief whip Pemmy Majodina.
The ANC’s caucus is meeting this weekend to map a way forward for the upcoming 2024 general elections, where a below 50% voter support has been widely predicted for the 110-year-old political party.
Speaking on the sidelines of the lekgotla held in Boksburg, Majodina said the country said unseating the ANC was a priority for the opposition parties.
“They tried with a motion against the president [Cyril Ramaphosa] and a no-confidence against the Speaker [Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula] – which we all defeated. And we know there’s another motion in the pipeline against the president again and we’re going to defeat that too.
“They’ve agreed to work together and take the ANC out of power. A coalition is practically there against the ANC,” she said.
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Mapisa-Nqakula on Wednesday survived a motion of no confidence tabled by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the National Assembly.
This came after the ANC MPs blocked the adoption of the Phala Phala report last year, saving Ramaphosa from facing an impeachment process.
The red berets were still upset by Mapisa-Nqakula booting them out of Cape Town city hall for disrupting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) in February.
During the debate, EFF leader Julius Malema accused the Speaker of degenerating Parliament into a place of “violence, censorship and an arena where the Constitution is disrespected and violated.”
Malema further accused the Speaker of having a predetermined agenda of protecting Ramaphosa from all scrutiny, at all costs.
ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude labelled the EFF as “anarchists” and accused them of “political theatrics” and “grandstanding” to make a name for themselves.
“These are enemies of the Constitution who have tangibly demonstrated that they do not respect the rules that govern this House and have continued to violate and defy those rules for self-interest, populism and misguided relevance,” she said.
On Wednesday, 234 MPs voted against the motion while 42 supported her removal and 73 abstained.
The ANC’s parliamentary lekgotla will end on Sunday.
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