The Democratic Alliance says that the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, has agreed in writing to a request for a debate on a motion of no confidence in President Zuma.<\/p>\n
It follows the President\u2019s decision to fire Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in December last year, which sparked a collapse in the rand.<\/p>\n
Mbete confirmed that her office is in the process of consulting with the Leader of Government Business and the Chief Whip of the Majority Party to schedule the motion ‘within a reasonable period of time’.<\/p>\n
A letter <\/a>penned by the speaker said that the motion will be published on the first available Order Paper in 2016.<\/p>\n “This is a welcome move by the speaker, and in light of the President\u2019s comments last night, I once again appeal to the speaker to ensure that the motion is treated with the urgency it deserves and a debate is scheduled as soon as possible. It is now absolutely imperative that Parliament is afforded the opportunity to debate a motion of no confidence in President Zuma,” said DA leader, Mmusi Maimane.<\/p>\n “The initial decision to fire Minister Nene was reckless and irrational, and the reaction – both domestically and internationally \u2013 was predictable and justified,” the opposition party leader said.<\/p>\n “President Zuma\u2019s leadership on the economy is non-existent, and he is incapable of leading us out of the crisis of low growth and high unemployment that we face. The reality is without a strong and growing economy, jobs cannot be created for the millions of South Africans who simply cannot find work.<\/p>\n “It is for these reasons that Parliament ought to remove Jacob Zuma as President once and for all.”<\/p>\n On the weekend, Zuma stood by his decision to sack Nene, adding that the markets overreacted and people exaggerated the situation.<\/p>\n Subsequently, the rand tumbled to record highs against the dollar, reaching R17.99, before recovering somewhat. In midday trade on Monday, the rand was at R16.56<\/span> against the greenback.<\/p>\n Rand tanks to new lows<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Everyone overreacted to Nene\u2019s axing: Zuma<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on president Zuma<\/h3>\n