EFF will not hand over “motion of no confidence”

Deadlines were the order of the day as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) set the umpteenth deadline for Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete to respond to the red berets call for an earlier vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma.

And while the EFF’s deadline moved again and again, president Jacob Zuma faced no such concerns from an NEC who informed their deployee that he had been recalled but could seemingly leave at his convenience.

With the EFF, the deadline demands started with the threat of an urgent application in court to force a response from Mbete on the opposition party’s application.

Following the ANC press briefing where secretary general Ace Magashule told the media that the party had recalled Zuma, the EFF is still pushing to move the date for the motion of no confidence in President Zuma.

EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu told reporters after the ANC’s announcement that despite claims that the ANC would table its own motion of no confidence, the EFF refuses to “hand-over” its motion, because it has an “original mandate” and “a right as a party to table its own motions”.

“The motion is going to proceed as tabled. And we are going to propose a caucus whether JZ will continue as president or not.”

There were concerns over whether or not Mbete had responded to the EFF. But she informed the party on Tuesday morning that she needed to consult the majority party chief whip Jackson Mthembu and leader of government business Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa before she could respond to the EFF’s application to move the motion of no confidence closer than the original February 22 date.

This will be the first time the EFF has initiated a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma.

“The recall of Zuma is long overdue,” Shivambu said.

“We are calling on the ANC to rise above narrow partisanship. We need to show unity. In the last motion of no confidence, all the opposition parties, except the ANC, recognised that Zuma must no longer lead the ANC,” said Shivambu.

Opposition parties are also pushing for parliament to dissolve and for fresh elections after the departure of Zuma.