The motion is scheduled to be debated and voted on in Parliament on Wednesday.
THE ATM and the Speaker of the National Assembly are in the Western Cape High Court over the former’s application that a secret ballot be conducted in the motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The motion is scheduled to be debated and voted on in Parliament on Wednesday.
But on Monday, the two parties are in court over the Speaker’s decision to refuse the request of the ATM for a secret ballot.
The Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has called for an open ballot on the motion.
In her papers in court, Mapisa-Nqakula has argued that her decision to refuse the ATM‘s request for a secret ballot is rational.
“I deny that my decision was irrational and unlawful,” she said.
“I took my decision on 16 February 2022 and communicated it to the applicant on the same day. The applicant elected not to review the decision via the court on that day but instead requested me to ‘review’ that decision myself and the applicant now seeks to contend that my refusal to agree to ‘review’ the decision myself amounts to a fresh decision which it is entitled to review in these proceedings or somehow that it affects the earlier decision of 16 February,” argued Mapisa-Nqakula.
“I deny that the applicant’s conduct and stance is correct or sustainable as a matter of law.”
She said her decision was correct.
“I am advised and submit that the correct legal position is that following my decision of 16 February as a matter of law, I was functus officio in respect of the issue,” she said.
– POLITICAL BUREAU
