The South African Constitutional Court throughout the majority judgment has highlighted the importance of a motion of no confidence on the President as an instrument to hold the executive accountable. The Constitutional Court states that “a motion of no confidence in the President is a vital tool to advance our democratic hygiene” and that “the ever present possibility of no confidence against the President and the Cabinet is meant to keep the President accountable to the Assembly which elects him or her”. Furthermore, “a motion of this kind is perhaps the most important mechanism that may be employed by Parliament to hold the executive to account, and to interrogate executive performance”. Parliament has been given six months to align its laws with the constitution.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 18:03:21 +0000