Cape Town - Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has climbed down on her initial plan to have an open ballot during the debate and vote on the motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
There are two motions that were tabled before the Speaker by the DA and the ATM.
The ATM first tabled the motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa several months ago and it went to court over the issue of the secret ballot.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the court said she had the prerogative to decide on whether it was a secret ballot or open ballot.
The DA last month tabled a motion of no confidence against the Cabinet.
The two motions will be debated and voted on March 30.
Mapisa-Nqakula said she would allow parties to make formal submissions to her on whether they want a secret ballot or open ballot.
“Those of you who have reservations about my ruling will then make formal submissions and of course I will not sit on the formal submissions. I will bring formal submissions to a discussion,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
But UDM chief whip Nqabayomzi Kwankwa objected to the open ballot.
He told the programming committee that they took former Speaker Baleka Mbete to the Constitutional Court a few years ago on the same issue and the UDM won the case.
He said it would be appropriate if Mapisa-Nqakula allowed parties to make formal submissions to her.
Earlier Mapisa-Nqakula took a decision that the vote would be an open ballot against Ramaphosa.
She said she applied her mind and received legal advice on it.
“You will recall that the former Speaker was taken to court for refusing to grant a secret ballot, but the court said that still remains the prerogative of the speaker to take a decision.
“However, what was missing in that application , which was made in response to the ATM, what was missing was that there were no reasons given to the court why we could not have this vote in secret.
“The Speaker then needed to justify why it would be an open ballot or not.
“I have since done that. I have granted the ATM reasons why I believe that it will be in the interest of transparency, of our democracy in Parliament, that we exercise this freedom openly and that I have not heard of the intimidation of members,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
But after opposition parties put pressure she said they will have to make submissions to her on why they wanted a secret ballot or not.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Political Bureau