South African parliament to debate Zuma impeachment
Print Edition
SOUTH Africa’s parliament will tomorrow debate a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete said, after a top court ruled the president had violated the constitution.
South Africa’s constitutional court ruled last Thursday that Zuma had failed to uphold the constitution by ignoring orders from the public protector that he repay some of the US$16 million in state funds spent to renovate his private residence at Nkandla.
Since that ruling, opposition party leaders, ordinary South Africans and even an anti-apartheid activist jailed alongside Nelson Mandela have called on Zuma to step down.
Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA), tabled the motion to have Zuma impeached, and Mbete told reporters yesterday “the debate on that motion has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.”
The African National Congress’s majority in parliament will almost certainly give Zuma political cover against the attempt to impeach him, but the judicial rebuke might embolden anti-Zuma factions within the ruling party to mount a challenge.
The unanimous ruling by the 11-judge constitutional court also criticized parliament for passing a resolution that purported to nullify Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings on the state spending on Zuma’s private residence.
DA Parliamentary Chief Whip John Steenhuisen said yesterday that Mbete should also resign for her and parliament’s complicity in the Nkandla matter.
Mbete said yesterday she would not step down, but acknowledged that the issue could have been handled differently in parliament.
The scandal is arguably the biggest yet to hit Zuma, who has fended off accusations of corruption, influence peddling and rape since before he took office in 2009.
On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologized and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution .
The president traveled to his home province of Kwazulu-Natal yesterday to launch a relief program as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africa’s worst drought in more than a century.
He told the crowd he was still South Africa’s leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no mention of the Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
