The DA has submitted to parliament a draft constitutional amendment bill titled Constitution Nineteenth Amendment Bill to regulate coalition governments.
DA MP Siviwe Gwarube told the National Assembly on Thursday that the amended law would bring stability to politics and address accountability concerns in parliament.
She said frequent changes in political leadership adversely affect service delivery and governance in the country’s metropolitan municipalities and local councils.
The Constitution Nineteenth Amendment Bill, she said, seeks to address this instability by imposing restrictions on motions of no confidence to ensure that they are used judiciously.
If enacted, such motions could only be initiated once a year, unless there are serious grounds for misconduct, according to Gwarube.
The proposed amendment bill is expected to undergo thorough debate and scrutiny in parliament. Its merits and impact on governance and accountability will also be assessed.
“Motions of no confidence have been abused for party political reasons,” Gwarube said.
“We have seen people removed from office due to cheque-book politics and not on the basis of concrete constitutional grounds.”
She said this wreaks havoc and impacts service delivery, noting that mayors, speakers, and whips of councils are removed for political reasons and not for governance failures.
“Where there have been glaring governance failures, incompetent one-seat parties have been retained because of the numbers in council from their unholy alliances.”
Gwarube charged that while all this unfolds, the citizens are the ones who lose out.
“While politicians argue about positions in government, people are being killed by disasters that could be avoided, it does not matter which political party you represent or which constituency you fight for.
“We can all agree that this instability in our metros cannot continue. As leaders, we cannot allow for the degeneration of governance in this manner,” she said.
Gwarube urged all political parties to put aside their differences and work together to address the pressing issues.
“We are not a post office for government’s legislation. We are lawmakers. Let us put our political differences aside and get to work.”
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