President Jacob Zuma has survived an impeachment move with South African parliament voting down a no-confidence motion moved against him, while a court is hearing a case to reinstate 738 corruption charges against him.
Governing party MPs defeated the motion, while Zuma’s office said he would oppose the court case.
The opposition was behind both actions, accusing him of taking a bribe. Zuma has denied the allegation, linked to a multi-billion dollar arms deal negotiated over a decade ago.
He was first charged in 2005, and fired as deputy president by then-President Thabo Mbeki. After much legal and political wrangling, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped the case in April 2009, and Zuma went on to become president a month later.
During a noisy parliamentary session, DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, described Zuma as a sell-out whose main aim was self-enrichment.
South Africa was “spiralling downward, and doing so at an alarmingly fast rate” under his presidency, the party added in a statement.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) party said that despite the “frivolous antics” of the DA, its confidence in Zuma remained unshaken.
In the High Court, the DA’s lawyers said the decision of the NPA to drop the corruption charges was unconstitutional and irrational. [myad]
