Speaker, it is ironic that we have this debate of no confidence less than one year into President Zuma's term of office. There is obviously clear opposition to this from the ANC. I think, however, you protest too much. When you decided that you had lost confidence in President Mbeki, you had no hesitation in expressing this by recalling him. Hon Radebe, you forgot the millions of voters who voted for him.
This is precisely the danger of having a president who is not directly elected. This is, in fact, to the detriment of our democracy because this fact allows the President either to hide behind the support of his or her party or, in turn, for the party to claim its support for itself and recall the President at a whim.
President Zuma's actions or lack thereof have damaged the people's faith in his ability to lead South Africa properly. I know that it is unreasonable to expect any public representative to enjoy the full confidence of the entire citizenry all the time. Such a state of affairs is not possible in the real world and highly unlikely in South Africa. However, it is reasonable to expect that a public representative, and the President in particular, should enjoy the broad support of the public, based on the expectation that he has both the experience and the wisdom to make the right decisions and in turn to articulate a vision and provide the necessary leadership to give life to that vision.
Somlomo, kuba ilizwe lonke belithembele kwezi zinto, ingaba loo nto ayithethi ukuba uMongameli wesizwe akaphumelelanga ukwenza njengoko bekulindelekile kusini na? (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Speaker, seeing that the whole country was depending on these things, doesn't this mean that the President of the country has failed to deliver as expected?]
We must not conflate the litany of policy programmes with purpose and direction. Policies are important building blocks of any democracy, but, unless they are held together by a set of coherent principles and values that mirror the kind of society our Constitution envisions, they are undermined from the first principle and work against that objective.
The President has simply made too many poorly considered decisions that compromise good governance. He has also appointed people to key positions as a form of political reward for loyalty to himself and his personal and political travails. These have not always been in the best interests of the government and they do not always represent commitment to excellence.
More pertinently, the President has failed to provide leadership on matters of principle and to provide guidance and direction. The President says he implements the collective decisions of the ANC. Frankly, this is not good enough for South Africa, because the ANC is failing to give guidance to itself, let alone the country.
Leadership is not about appeasing and compromise, for all its virtues can easily be distorted down to a level at which no hard decisions or direction are possible at all. This has often been the effect of the President's silence and also of his failure to identify what principles are at stake and how best to protect them.
The President's embracing of the Mbeki era's policy of silent diplomacy regarding Zimbabwe, which is classical appeasement, is a case in point. The President misled this country into believing that he would adopt a different approach to the octogenarian "President for Life". He, too, has been seduced by Mugabe's wily ways.
This is not the worst, though. The fact that he agitates for the lifting of targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his acolytes and tacitly supports the latest harebrained scheme of indigenisation of foreign companies, sends disinvestment shivers down the spines of potential foreign investors who hold the key to economic growth and job creation in South Africa.
This spineless behaviour also places all South African investments in Zimbabwe in jeopardy and begs the question: Whose interests does the President represent - the citizens of both Zimbabwe and South Africa, the South African investments in Zimbabwe, the reputation of SADC, or those of Mugabe and his generals who have violated almost every law and human right conceivable?
This pandering to a decrepit despot is also costing South Africa jobs, as Zimbabweans compete in their millions for scarce job opportunities in South Africa. My prediction is that President Zuma will return from his current visit having achieved nothing or very little with regard to salvaging the Global Political Agreement, GPA, that has been abrogated by Mugabe.
The President has also shown no appetite to deal with his chief cheerleader, Mr Malema, because of his debt of gratitude stemming from Polokwane. I know you will all shout Mr Malema's praises again today, like you did yesterday in the Human Rights Day debate, but I don't expect you to do anything else because of the position of your ANC President, who also happens to be the President of South Africa.
Minister Pandor was correct yesterday when she said that all murders are to be condemned, but the regular murder - one every 36 hours - of South African farmers and farmworkers, black and white, is beyond the pale. The incendiary and inciting song that exhorts the killing of "rapist farmers" should not be tolerated. Both Mr Mantashe and especially the President are in dereliction of their duty by condoning this call to arms in our constitutional democracy. Their and Malema's hands are being stained by the blood of these defenceless victims who look to them to guide and protect them in their own country.
Another issue of major concern that erodes confidence in the President is his personal legal quandary that has been all but expunged by people who appear to have been compliant when they should have held the independent judicial line. The ANC policy of cadre deployment, which the President endorses and applies with alacrity, especially in the realm of the judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission, has no place in our society, let alone in this venerable realm.
The President's failure to unambiguously take a principled position on the participation by his party's investment arm, Chancellor Houses' a partnership with Hitachi, is reprehensible. Apart from the fact that the Deputy President told this House that he was unaware of the deal, the President has not done or said anything about this since being informed thereof. It confirms the adage: There are none as deaf as those who do not want to hear.
Speaking of not wanting to hear, it is becoming abundantly clear that the President and his VIP protection unit, the police, some metro police units and other arms of the security services are adopting a zero-tolerance attitude towards law-abiding citizens and to any form of dissent and other guaranteed human rights.
This is the antithesis of their constitutional role. We do not want to return to a police state. We want to be protected by these services, not bullied, beaten, raped, detained and even murdered, as has recently occurred in Knysna and in other well-documented cases.
Some incidences involving the President himself confirm that this situation is out of control, and this has deepened the loss of confidence in the President. Let me refresh your memories about a few incidents.
Firstly, on 16 March 2010, there was the assault on Eyewitness News photographer Tshepo Lesole by the President's VIP unit.
Secondly, on l0 Feb 2010, there was the arrest and detention of Chumani Maxwele, a University of Cape Town student on a training run, who was arrested at gunpoint. His hands were tied behind his back, his head was covered with a black bag and he was subjected to arrest without charge. He was insulted and intimidated for 24 hours and his home was ransacked, all for allegedly gesturing at the President. Thirdly, on June 2008 - note when this took place; the President was not president then - a VIP officer on Jacob Zuma's armed convoy fired three shots at the vehicle of an 84-year-old motorist who was deemed a threat.
Ndiqinisekile ukuba abantu abaninzi abalapha kule Ndlu namhlanje babephila kabuhlungu ngaphambili phantsi kwengcinezelo yamapolisa, kodwa namhlanje siyayamkela ingcinezelo yamapolisa. [I am sure that the majority of the people in this House today unfortunately lived under police brutality before, but today we accept that very same oppression.]
These are but a few of the issues and are coupled with the President's own personal challenges, not least of all the fact that he rejected the call for wealth audits of senior politicians and public officials even though there exist mechanisms and procedures to declare their interests, and he himself only made such declarations under extreme public pressure, eight and a half months after the deadline.
Die President s dat hy 'n teenkorrupsiekommissie aangestel het, maar tot nou toe is daar geen strategiese raamwerk vir die kommissie se werksaamhede nie. Ek wonder of dit die oneerbare en vrugtelose uitgawes onder die kabinetslede sal stop. Ek glo nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The President is saying that he has appointed an anticorruption commission, but up to now there has been no strategic framework within which the commission should operate. I wonder whether this will bring an end to improper and fruitless expenditure by members of the Cabinet. I don't think so.]
The DA, therefore, supports this motion of no confidence brought by Cope. I am all too well aware that this will, in all likelihood, not lead to the President's impeachment, owing to the fact that some opposition parties will be swayed either to abstain or to vote against it.
This watershed debate is like the metaphorical ladder in a stocking: It starts as a small hole and ends up running through your divided government. In the words of Lincoln, and I quote: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I thank you. [Applause.]