Former National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has denied that she protected former President Jacob Zuma in parliament, while he was Head of State. Mbete, who was the Speaker between 2014 and 2019, ruled that MPs could vote in a secret ballot in a no-confidence motion against Zuma in 2017.
She told SABC News on Wednesday that reports that she protected the former President are not true.
“When I took a decision at the point at which the Constitutional Court had said it is up to Parliament to decide whether the method of voting on a particular time, in a particular motion against the president whether it should be private or it should be open. And I said it should be open. People were surprised because I was supposedly this stooge of Jacob Zuma.
Reflecting on the performance of the African National Congress (ANC) since the democratic elections of 1994, she acknowledged that it had dropped the ball on the culture aspect.
Mbete expresses relief that the May polls have sobered them up. She says she hopes that now they have a new moment, they will find ways to pick up the ball and make sure they know what they are doing.
Mbete hopes the Government of National Unity will find creative ways to ensure the portfolio is not neglected.
“We are in a moment where we are reflecting soberly. This is something touched upon on the road, get out of caucus room because South Africa is much bigger than the caucus room. Caucus room is where you retreat as a family, as a few, as those people that must look at those things that are sensitive and we can only talk about when we are on our own. But most of the time we’ve got to be out there where it matters most because that’s where the actual life of South Africans is lived on a broader level.
Source: eNCA
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