The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) welcomes the resignation of the Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. It would, however, have been more appropriate for the Speaker to resign as soon as credible accusations were made against her.
Indeed, the Speaker should not have been appointed in the first place. This is not primarily an individual issue but a systemic problem with the ANC government. The ANC adopts a re-use and re-cycle approach with its cadres rather than a reduce approach. Unfortunately, the ANC does not have sufficient untainted and competent candidates for the positions it currently controls in government. South Africa needs a radical reduction in the number of these positions, and in the number of votes the ANC receives.
The resignation of the Speaker, a person who must be above reproach, has impacted the public’s perception of the integrity of Parliament. There is a perceived and real lack of integrity in the oversight role of parliamentarians. All credibly accused ANC cadres should remove themselves from the ANC lists now. Failure to do so will further damage Parliament’s integrity and competence. The Seventh Parliament cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the Sixth administration.
I personally have had to deal with questions to the Executive being left unanswered for months, policies of vital national interest not being tabled in time, and as a result not being debated or even placed before Committee.
The ACDP calls on South Africans to vote to unseat the ANC and create a diverse Parliament that will include a range of parties to ensure that checks and balances are working. A party like the ACDP, that has served in every South African Parliament, is a trusted party with an impeccable track record since 1994. The ACDP has shown that its parliamentarians have the highest integrity, have been peacemakers in Parliament, and are ready to serve South Africa in the Seventh Parliament, especially to ensure that Parliament functions as it should and holds the Executive to account.
