VOTE AGAINST JZ IS ‘SUICIDE’
The ANC will deal harshly with ‘suicide bombers’ who vote to remove President Jacob Zuma from power in the upcoming no-confidence motion in parliament, the ruling party has warned.
Those who vote to remove president from power face the ‘wrath of the party’.
The ANC will deal harshly with “suicide bombers” who will be voting to remove President Jacob Zuma from power in the upcoming no-confidence motion in parliament.
This was a stern warning from chairperson of the ANC subcommittee on organisational renewal and Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula to all party MPs who contemplated to vote with their conscience when the motion is debated in the National Assembly in August.
Mbalula also announced a plan to establish the Revolutionary Electoral Council (REC) to closely evaluate all party leaders nominated by branches if they met its strict leadership criteria in terms of its “Through the Eye of the Needle” document. Essentially, the document demands that leaders should have impeccable credentials and unquestionable conduct, among others, before they were elected into party structures and government offices.
In his organisational renewal report, Mbalula said it was not intimidation, but a requirement of the party that members should toe the line in parliament as they got their mandates from the ANC. He stressed that those who voted with the opposition to remove Zuma will face the wrath of the party.
“They are suicide bombers. It’s a political suicide. We are not running a beer hall, we are running an organisation that is accountable to the people.”
All parliamentarians swore their allegiances to the country’s constitution, Mbalula said, which the ANC understood and respected. “But we have a party system in the Republic. The MPs owe their allegiances to the parties, they get their mandate from the parties,” Mbalula said.
The fiery politician described those intending to vote with the opposition as “suicide bombers”, because they would be dying for a cause even when they could see that it was wrong. But the ANC is facing a mammoth task if it was to try to trace the culprits if the vote was held through a secret ballot. It may struggle to determine which individual MPs voted contrary to its position. He did not elaborate on the kind of action to be taken against those who broke the rule.
Some parliamentarians, such as Derek Hanekom, indicated that they would vote according to their consciences on the motion, a move interpreted to mean they would vote to have Zuma removed from power.
Political parties, including the ANC, were expected to make submissions to Speaker Baleka Mbete whether the vote should be conducted by secret or open ballot. The matter would be tabled in parliament in early August.
On the Revolutionary Electoral Council, Mbalula said the idea was being proposed in the party national policy conference currently underway at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.
The REC would comprise ANC senior members, including, but not limited to, party veterans and stalwarts with no personal interest in leadership. “We need capable people, they will listen to candidates and evaluate them according to the ‘Through the Eye of the Needle’. We want people with impeccable credentials, we don’t want people to be affirmed by factions,” Mbalula said.
He stressed that candidates at national, provincial and council level would still be selected by branches but further scrutinised by the REC.
We are not running a beer hall, we are running an organisation