Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille on Tuesday moved a motion calling on President Thabo Mbeki and his Cabinet to resign over the energy crisis.
Speaking in the National Assembly during debate on Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, she said the ID has lost confidence in the government and its leaders. ”Government is constantly calling on our people to make sacrifices that you yourself are not prepared to make,” she said.
Inequality has grown over the past 14 years and people have been forced to survive in the most dehumanising conditions, while others have accumulated large amounts of wealth. The government has put thousands of jobs at risk and is not held accountable.
”For the ID, business unusual must start with action finally being taken against those political leaders who have clearly failed South Africa,” De Lille said.
”Honourable President, we have heard your list of promises before. One of the reasons that they have not been fulfilled is that you failed to act against ministers who failed to implement government policies and plans. The time for political accountability is long overdue.
”We fail to see how we can trust those who created the electricity crisis also to deliver us from it. It is unacceptable that they are still making decisions about our future energy path and committing us to spending millions of rands.”
Government ”spin” that the crisis was created through unexpected economic growth is untrue, she said. Growth has been lower than the government had predicted. ”The fact that the ANC will now benefit from the building of new power stations through Chancellor House adds insult to injury.”
De Lille said she was delivering a written notice of motion to the secretary to Parliament. The motion stated that ”as a result of government’s failure to prevent the prevailing energy crisis, the House has no confidence in the president and therefore, in accordance with section 102 of the Constitution, he and his Cabinet must resign”.
She also lashed out at Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula for announcing the Scorpions’ dissolution in Parliament. It was very arrogant for Nqakula to undermine Parliament’s authority by making the announcement, she said.
The Scorpions had been established by an Act of Parliament. ”And the procedures must start here in Parliament. [It is] not for the executive to announce the dissolution of the Scorpions,” she said.
Also, if Mbeki had acted earlier concerning police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, instead of uttering the phrase ”I trust you,” the country would have been in a much stronger position in the fight against crime, De Lille said. — Sapa