DA: ANC MPs were ‘in the same room’ during virtual Cabinet vote

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has suggested that ANC MPs may have been forced to vote along party lines during the motion of no confidence vote against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet on Wednesday evening, 30 March 2022.

The DA’s bid to have the executive booted out failed as only 131 MPs voted in favour of the motion – including the DA, EFF, FF Plus and UDM. While 231 MPs in the ANC, IFP, Good Party, Al-Jamah, AIC and NFP didn’t support it. COPE’s Willie Madisha abstained from the vote and the PAC was absent.

The motion was one of two which were meant to be heard, the other being against the president himself. But that motion didn’t go ahead and was instead referred to the programming committee.

DA Chief Whip Natasha Mazzone says the outcome of their motion of no confidence vote against the Cabinet would have been different had a better voting system been used during proceedings. Mazzone tells eNCA that ANC MPs may have been in the same venue during the virtual vote – with the sole purpose, by their Chief Whip, to make sure that they vote against the motion.

“Please have a look at the ANC members when they were asked to turn on their cameras, they were all in the same room. We believe that they were at a hotel in Strand Street, where they had been herded together and their whips were making sure that they voted a certain way. So I think that if voting had been done in a proper fashion, the outcome tonight would have certainly been a lot different”

DA Chief Whip Natasha Mazzone