Cyril Ramaphosa no confidence

Photo: GCIS

Why Ramaphosa may still face a ‘no confidence vote’ in Parliament

The ATM will attempt to pile the pressure on Cyril Ramaphosa this month, after they revived their bid to launch a no confidence vote against the president.

Cyril Ramaphosa no confidence

Photo: GCIS

Cyril Ramaphosa may be addressing the nation on Wednesday evening, but the president could have some other issues to contend with later this week. The campaign to oust him from office has been revived, some seven months after the original request for a ‘no confidence vote’ was filed.

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) are the chief agitators in this scenario. Amongst other things, their initial complaints against Cyril Ramaphosa include broken promises about load shedding, a rise in government’s irregular expenditure, and a perceived ‘failure’ to decisively handle the gender-based violence crisis in South Africa.

Why Cyril Ramaphosa may face a motion of no confidence

However, the party now want to add new charges to the president’s rap sheet. They claim to be ‘dismayed’ by the way Ramaphosa has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, listing the following grievances:

  • Ramaphosa’s decision to go into lockdown – three weeks after SA’s first coronavirus case was reported – was ‘too slow’.
  • PPE funds ‘were looted’, and the ATM says that some beneficiaries of this corruption are linked to the CR17 campaign.
  • The ‘Zimbabwe jet scandal’ has been framed as a ‘blatant abuse of power’ from Ramaphosa, too.

ATM ‘hopeful of success’

Sharing their venomous criticisms, the ATM – who hold two seats in Parliament – has urged the National Assembly to put their motion forward to a vote. The minority party also claim that they have support from other representatives in the House:

“The notice of the motion filed by the ATM does indeed tick all the required boxes for the rules of Parliament, and the Speaker has a duty to place the motion of no confidence on the agenda. We have since written to the speaker for an update on this situation. Other political parties now agree with out motion.”

African Transformation Movement
  • You can view the full statement from the ATM here: