POLITICAL parties have called for a secret ballot in the motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
They also want to meet National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Ramaphosa to discuss a range of issues affecting the country, including security matters.
Mapisa-Nqakula has set the end of March for Parliament to debate and vote on the motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa.
The parties that attended the meeting were the DA, EFF, African Transformation Movement, Freedom Front Plus, UDM, PAC, Al Jama-ah, National Freedom Party and the ACDP.
In a joint statement the opposition parties said they want a secret ballot.
“There was general agreement that as a matter of principle, all voting in parliament should be in secret. This includes voting on the motions of no confidence that the speaker has already scheduled,” said the parties.
The parties also wanted to meet Mapisa-Nqakula and Ramaphosa to discuss a range of issues affecting the country.
The parties had met in Parliament on Tuesday where they discussed the issue of voting in municipalities under the ANC, commissions of inquiry, the appointment of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and the state of security agencies in the country.
Two reports have made damning findings against the intelligence agencies and the police before and during the July 2021 riots.
Ramaphosa had promised to make changes in the security cluster.
He has since appointed former diplomat and deputy minister of energy Thembi Majola as the new director- general of the State Security Agency.
National police commissioner Khehla Sitole will leave his post at the end of July, but some of the parties had called for Ramaphosa to fire Police Minister Bheki Cele.
“Parties expressed concern about the deleterious effects of the National State of Disaster on the lives and livelihoods of the people of South Africa and unanimously agreed that the National State of Disaster be lifted, and that Parliament sets an example by going back to work physically (to resume physical plenary sessions),” said the parties.
POLITICAL BUREAU
