Congress of the People (COPE) says it will not be listening to President Jacob Zuma in Parliament on Tuesday.
“Congress of the People will not make light of Mr Zuma breaking his oath of office. He was admonished by the Constitutional Court for transgressing the Constitution. What Mr Zuma did has to have repercussions but none are forthcoming.
“Likewise‚ parliament also failed South Africa and the nation by acting in a servile and ingratiating manner and meekly surrendering the right of the legislature to exist independent of the other two arms of government‚” said COPE spokesman Dennis Bloem.
He said the ruling party had done nothing substantive to correct the errors of its ways.
“It paid lip service to the ConCourt judgment and has continued with business as usual. The Speaker‚ likewise‚ did not see fit to invite every party in parliament to discuss the judgment and to reach a consensus view on the way forward. For the ruling party the judgment is over and done with and life continues as before‚” Bloem stated.
“There is the serious danger in the attitude that the ANC is displaying. Both the executive and the ANC caucus will continue to use its parliamentary majority to trample yet again on the Constitution and seek to get away.
“Therefore‚ while Mr Zuma will be in parliament tomorrow (Tuesday)‚ nothing he will say there will be of any consequence and everything he does there will be lacking in legitimacy‚” Bloem said.
“Congress of the People will continue to discuss its absence from the legislature and continue to look for avenues to make the ConCourt judgment count. A decade from now South Africans will accept that parties should not have allowed the ANC and Mr Zuma to get away so lightly. We remain convinced that an early election will have to occur to clean up the mess and get South Africa back on the constitutional path‚” Bloem added.
COPE won’t be listening to Zuma in Parliament
Congress of the People (COPE) says it will not be listening to President Jacob Zuma in Parliament on Tuesday.
“Congress of the People will not make light of Mr Zuma breaking his oath of office. He was admonished by the Constitutional Court for transgressing the Constitution. What Mr Zuma did has to have repercussions but none are forthcoming.
“Likewise‚ parliament also failed South Africa and the nation by acting in a servile and ingratiating manner and meekly surrendering the right of the legislature to exist independent of the other two arms of government‚” said COPE spokesman Dennis Bloem.
He said the ruling party had done nothing substantive to correct the errors of its ways.
“It paid lip service to the ConCourt judgment and has continued with business as usual. The Speaker‚ likewise‚ did not see fit to invite every party in parliament to discuss the judgment and to reach a consensus view on the way forward. For the ruling party the judgment is over and done with and life continues as before‚” Bloem stated.
“There is the serious danger in the attitude that the ANC is displaying. Both the executive and the ANC caucus will continue to use its parliamentary majority to trample yet again on the Constitution and seek to get away.
“Therefore‚ while Mr Zuma will be in parliament tomorrow (Tuesday)‚ nothing he will say there will be of any consequence and everything he does there will be lacking in legitimacy‚” Bloem said.
“Congress of the People will continue to discuss its absence from the legislature and continue to look for avenues to make the ConCourt judgment count. A decade from now South Africans will accept that parties should not have allowed the ANC and Mr Zuma to get away so lightly. We remain convinced that an early election will have to occur to clean up the mess and get South Africa back on the constitutional path‚” Bloem added.
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