ATM suffers double court blow in battle with Speaker over secret ballots
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has suffered a double blow in the Western Cape High Court in its battle with Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula over her refusal to allow a secret ballot in two instances.
The ATM had asked the court to find that the Speaker acted unlawfully by refusing a closed vote in a motion of no confidence it planned to bring against President Cyril Ramaphosa more than a year ago.
It has also failed in getting the court to overturn a vote in the National Assembly in December, on whether or not Ramaphosa should face an impeachment inquiry.
The court said that evidence before it showed that the Speaker placed great weight on conducting proceedings in the open, and it could find no basis to fault her approach, or to declare that she acted in bad faith.
Only five members of the African National Congress (ANC) broke party ranks in December, voting in favour of President Ramaphosa facing an impeachment inquiry over the theft of US dollars from his Limpopo farm, Phala Phala.
The ATM contended that if the vote had been held by secret ballot, more would have stepped out of line.
But a full bench of the Western Cape High Court has found that because MPs derive their membership to the House by virtue of the political party they belong to, it was to be expected that they would vote in line with what the party dictates.
Judges Le Grange, Binns-Ward, and Thulare said that they could find no evidence that the Speaker acted in bad faith by refusing a closed ballot.
They said that the ATM’s attacks on her appeared to have been premised on a cherry-picking analysis of her letters and statements on her decision.
The court said that the ATM had failed to show anything material that the Speaker had ignored in her decision-making and thus her decision could not be viewed as arbitrary or whimsical.
The court also said that it was moot to make a finding on the motion of no confidence that never materialized last year.
The ATM has been ordered to pay costs in the matter.
-EWN
In other news – Pearl Thusi under fire for only posting one daughter
Mzansi actress and media personality, Pearl Thusi has been in her cross-continental era for the past couple of months. This is as the Queen Sono lead has been travelling back and forth for the better part of the year. As reported before:
Pearl Thusi has been travelling a lot this past couple of months. Initially starting her travels in the US, specifically Los Angeles. Learn More
