Thandi Modise confirms ATM's motion of no confidence in Cyril Ramaphosa

The African Transformation Movement has officially submitted its motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa to National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise.

“Yes I have received the notice from the ATM on their motion,” Modise told parliamentary journalists on Thursday.

“I am considering their motion and you do know that any motion that comes in front of us must satisfy certain conditions and if it does, it will be dealt with,” she added.

Briefing journalists in Johannesburg, ATM president Vuyolwethu Zungula said his party, being a faith-based organisation, gave Ramaphosa's administration the benefit of the doubt, on the basis of the majority — albeit reduced electoral support — they got.

“We thought as social democrats we should respect the will of the majority,” he said. But the sixth administration has turned out to be the most advised administration since the dawn of democracy with a number of advisory bodies and various envoys whose advice it seemed was falling on deaf ears or poorly implemented.

“It is safe to say this country has a parallel cabinet but still no positive outcome. SA allowed President Ramaphosa a free hand to do things the new dawn way but the country keeps sliding.”

Zungula said despite many summits, investment conferences and pledges, the county continued to sink.

He said even the business community that was very supportive of Ramaphosa had become fatigued and exasperated because of his inaction.

“Ramaphoria is no more. Many people in private conversations and some publicly are very sad to accept that SA has been on a slippery slope ever since President Ramaphosa occupied the highest office in the land. The new dawn that was promised has in fact become a nightmare for virtually all the citizens of SA,” said Zungula.

He said the 3% growth that Ramaphosa promised during his campaign had been nothing but a mirage with the economy of the country taking a turn for the worst.

Joblessness, increased poverty and hopelessness were fast becoming a defining feature for SA, charged Zungula.

Among a list of reasons why Ramaphosa should go, Zungula cited the general level of violence and lawlessness particularly at schools and brutality against women which he said were at a new high.

Other issues include Ramaphosa's failure to disclose to parliament the R500,000 donation from late Bosasa boss Gavin Watson, misleading or lying to the nation by saying there would be no load-shedding until January 13 2020, and the failure to act against public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and the Eskom board for misleading him on the load-shedding programme.

The ATM also calls for Ramaphosa's resignation for “his failure” to deal with the catastrophic level of unemployment which has reached unacceptable proportions of nearly 30%, thus posing a threat to national security and the failure to deal with the level of inequality which is stated by the World Bank and other international organisations to be the highest in the world, and deteriorating further under his watch.

“The fish rots from the head,” said Zungula, calling on South Africans to put pressure on MPs to put the interests of SA ahead of those controlled not by their parties but by those who funded their campaigns.

“We call on the patriotic duty of MPs to help us help SA out of this misery,” he said.

Party spokesperson Mxolisi Makhubu said when the time came, the ATM would request a secret ballot on the motion “so that we allow South Africans represented by MPs to have a voice clear of any capture”.