kougademocrat

The ANC’s bid to have Premier Helen Zille impeached has failed.

The party failed to convince 28 members of the legislature to vote to impeach Zille, over allegations of spying on the ANC.

Instead, the DA voted to amend the ANC’s motion to fully endorse Zille.

The motion was thrashed out in the provincial legislature on Tuesday, where party leaders took turns to air dirty laundry under the guise of debate.

This after the ANC brought the motion to the legislature, following accusations by the opposition party that Zille used government resources to employ a private company to “do debugging”, which the party suggested was used for bugging instead.

Zille said the impeachment motion was nothing but nonsense that made a mockery of the provincial legislature.

“Just because the ANC makes wild allegations, does not mean they are true. In fact, it means the dead opposite.”

She said ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman was desperate as people were discovering things about him and he wanted to use the “spy saga” to make them inadmissible in court.

Zille said Fransman had a lot to hide and challenged him to get a lifestyle audit.

‘Waste of time’

DA Chief Whip Mark Wiley called the motion pathetic and without substance.

He took the legislature through what he perceived to be Fransman’s “shortcomings.”

Wiley said Fransman had failed to meet a deadline to declare his assets for two years in a row, and still needed to prove that he had not received funding from gangsters.

The ANC brought the motion to the legislature in terms of Section 130 (3) of the National Constitution and had to prove the premier was guilty of serious misconduct; violation of the constitution or the law or unable to perform the functions of her office.

The African Christian Democratic Party said the motion was a waste of time, with Fransman creating media hype in a bid to give it credence.

Fransman said the tender specifications for Paul Scheepers’s company were too wide and left too much room for interception.

He accused Zille of hiring Scheepers, who, according to him, had no proper tax clearance.

The ANC’s Richard Dyantyi said the “spy saga” was not surprising.

He said Zille was guilty of hiring a public servant as a service provider.

Twenty three members voted to change the motion, while 14 voted against it.

Twenty three members voted to pass a motion fully endorsing Zille.