President Jacob Zuma is running away from his duties and responsibilities and the FF Plus do not have any confidence in a fleeing president, Dr. Pieter Groenewald, the FF Plus’ parliamentary spokesperson on the Presidency said in Parliament during the debate on the motion of no confidence in the President.
Dr. Groenewald said that the President is in terms of the Constitution not chosen by the ANC but in a secret ballot in the National Assembly.
He said the president is therefore accountable to the National Assembly and has certain responsibilities in this regard.
“In this regard there is an omission in the Constitution as voting in a no-confidence debate about the President is not held in secret as well. The ANC could have had a big surprise if this had indeed been the case.
“The President is running away from his responsibilities. In this Assembly, a debate was held on soldiers of South Africa who had died in the Central African Republic. The President was not present. He is the Commander-in-chief of the Defence Force, but he is running away from his responsibilities.
“There was a debate in this Assembly about his friends who had illegally landed at Waterkloof. The President again was not present. He once again ran away from his duties and responsibilities.
“There were questions here raised about Nkandla, his personal home. He sat here last week when I asked him to answer a question about Nkandla, but he ran away, he did not answer his questions.
“Today there is a debate on a motion of no confidence in the President, and where is he? He runs away. We have a runaway president in South Africa.
“In Hollywood there was a film, “The Runaway Bride”. The bride did not want to accept the responsibilities of a marriage and ran away. It sounds a lot like the President of South Africa. He runs away from debates on soldiers who die, from Waterkloof and the Guptas and from questions on taxpayer’s money being used on Nkandla.
“There is however a big difference between the Hollywood movie and the reality of what is taking place in South Africa. The FF Plus cannot have confidence in a fleeing president,” Dr. Groenewald said.
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