Economic crisis calls for urgent sitting
PRESSURE is continuing to mount on Speaker Baleka Mbete to urgently convene a sitting of Parliament to debate a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma.
Opposition parties said yesterday this has been heightened by threats of more downgrades by ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s after the latter warned of a review downgrade.
This followed a downgrade of South Africa to junk status by Standard & Poor’s Global this week after a Cabinet reshuffle that saw the firing of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.
Opposition parties said yesterday that Mbete would have to set a date for a debate in Parliament after completing her consultation processes.
Spokesperson for Parliament Moloto Mothapo said Mbete had not concluded the consultation process.
But he said Mbete was committed to considering the request by the opposition parties for a debate on the motion.
“The speaker has committed to starting the consultation process on Tuesday. Remember she said this will be done swiftly. We can’t give a blow-byblow account of the consultations,” said Mothapo.
The EFF, DA and UDM have asked Mbete to reconvene Parliament for the no confidence debate.
They said the downgrade of South Africa to junk status by Standard & Poor’s Global this week was a setback and has made it even more urgent to discuss the removal of Zuma from office.
This comes as the next credit rating by the two remaining ratings agencies were shifted back by a few months.
Moody’s was expected to announce its results on Friday but yesterday it said it would happen in the next 30 to 90 days.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said Mbete had no choice but to call for the special sitting to debate the motion of no confidence against Zuma.
“Mbete committed to consulting with the leader of government business (Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa) and the chief whip (Jackson Mthembu) on April 2, and has surely done so by now. All that remains is for her to schedule a sitting,” said Steenhuisen.
“The time has arrived for Mbete to put the institution of Parliament before the president she slavishly shielded from accountability during previous crises,” he said.