Cape Town - Opposition parties in the National Assembly are expected to meet next Wednesday to discuss how they will approach a motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa over the 2020 robbery at his Phala Phala farm.
The parties are also calling for Parliament to convene physically to deal with all parliamentary issues.
This was the culmination of a meeting at the Inanda Club in Joburg yesterday.
The parties include the DA, EFF, IFP, NFP, ATM, UDM and ACDP, with more parties expected to join the meeting on Wednesday, UDM president Bantu Holomisa told Weekend Argus on Thursday.
In the joint statement, the parties said a unanimous decision had been taken that Ramaphosa be held accountable “as a matter of urgency and no delays, distractions and procrastination should be permitted”.
“All the opposition parties expressed misgivings and discontent with the manner in which the Speaker of the National Assembly has thus far handled the demands of political parties to hold the president accountable,” the parties said.
The parties also expressed misgivings and discontent with how Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had handled the demands of political parties to hold Ramaphosa accountable.
They also want access to Ramaphosa’s responses to questions put to him by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Phala Phala and believe the concealment of the responses should be challenged.
Plans are also afoot to rein in civil society organisations, non-profit organisations, trade unions and religious bodies to “consolidate a common approach and response to holding the executive and the president accountable”.
“Opposition parties will request a follow-up meeting with (Mapisa-Nqakula) to discuss all accountability issues, including the usage of a secret ballot for motions of no confidence.
“(We) will intensify our collective and individual court actions against the Speaker of the National Assembly and all other institutions that are attempting to suppress Parliament’s constitutional obligations to hold the executive and Parliament accountable,” the parties said.
A previous attempt to have a motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa debated lapsed from Parliament’s agenda in March after the ATM failed to move the motion during the scheduled debate of no confidence in the president.
According to the National Assembly rules and procedures, a member proposing a scheduled motion must move it in the Assembly for debate. Should the member choose not to move the scheduled motion, it lapses from the parliamentary programme.