The majority of African National Congress (ANC) members voted against the motion to have President Cyril Ramaphosa impeached.
Parliament debated and considered the section 89 report on Phala Phala this afternoon 13 December. During the sitting they voted on whether or not Ramaphosa must be impeached.
Over 200 MPs mostly ANC members voted against Ramaphosa’s impeachment. After the voting started, ANC members voted a “NO” on the question of whether Ramaphosa is impeached.
Senior ANC leader Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma defied the odds. She stood up and voted “YES” a move that shocked her colleagues.
“As a disciplined member of the ANC, I vote yes!” she said.
Nkosazana received a standing ovation from the EFF benches. The red berets applauded Nkosazana for her bravery.
After speaking, Pravin Gordan who was next to her voted a “NO”. In a similar way, Nkosazana announced her YES, and Gordhan followed with the opposite.
“As a disciplined member of the ANC, I vote no!” Gordan said.
Two other MPs that voted a “Yes” are Supra Mahumaphelo, and Mervyn Dirks. Thandi Mahambehlala’s vote became a centre of controversy.
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Good party MPs, Patricia De Lille and Brett Herron abstained from voting.
Thandi Mahambehla’s vote
The vote of the ANC MP Thandi Mahambehlala became controversial. She said there was a mistake about her position.
“It came to my attention that my vote for party line is captured wrongly. My vote for party line is no but it came to my attention that was recorded as yes. I vote no, thank you,” said Mahambehlala.
Political parties contested allowing Mahambehla’s vote change. Democratic Alliance’s chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said allowing her to change the vote “delegitimizes the whole process”.
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema said no one is allowed to change the vote. He said the principles of ballot voting must apply. He said when a person votes using a ballot they cannot go back and retrieve and change their vote.
The final vote was as follows: No voted 241 and Yes voted: 148. Two abstained.