OPINION - When ANC national executive member Derek Hanekom plotted to remove president Jacob Zuma, he decided the EFF would be the vehicle to use.
As a seasoned ANC member, he knew that openly campaigning to remove a party president elected through a democratic process was punishable by, at worst, expulsion, since he was bound by the ANC constitution.
Julius Malema revealed that Hanekom had given the EFF a list of ANC members who would support a motion to impeach Zuma. This is reasonable to expect from the EFF, a party seeking to garner support for its motion. It needed to engage other opposition parties and form alliances with the weakest links from the majority party.
The ANC has a comfortable number of seats to outvote a motion against its members. It is no secret that some in the ANC were uncomfortable with Zuma as leader and, it was widely reported, would vote with “their conscience”, meaning against their party. Notwithstanding the Constitutional Court judgment on the vote of no confidence, membership of a political party means allegiance and a commitment to obey instructions from its leadership.
Hanekom, and the ANC members who support his view argue that the Constitution takes precedence over political mandates and that, once elected, members of Parliament must “vote with their conscience” as they “no longer represent their political party, but the country”.
South African voters do not vote for individual members of the National Assembly or provincial legislatures; they vote for a party whose views and policies resonate with them. Every MP has a responsibility to uphold, protect and defend not only the Constitution of the country, but also the aims, resolutions and policies of the party they represent.
It is expected that Malema’s allegations about Hanekom would be investigated. A decision to suspend his membership cannot be taken based on statements made by an opposition party alone. A matter
of this nature would come before an ANC disciplinary committee and be investigated, before a verdict is pronounced.
This is not a matter for
public debate; it is best handled by the ANC.
Visvin Reddy Durban
Daily News