SA opposition parties boycott Parliament sitting

Eight opposition parties on Thursday boycotted the joint sitting of Parliament, where President Zuma delivered his reply speech in the Presidency's budget vote.

"As representatives of the people of South Africa, we cannot in good conscience legitimize an empty speech of an utterly discredited and illegitimate President," said Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, which led the boycott.

Maimane said the boycott was based on a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court last week. The court found that the decision to discontinue the prosecution against Zuma was irrational and thus set aside that previous decision.

This refers to alleged corruption in relation to an arms procurement deal in the late 1990s, in which Zuma, then Deputy President, was suspected of involvement.

Under the ruling, the charges that were dropped by the National Prosecuting Authority in 2009 are automatically reinstated and the National Director of Public Prosecutions is now duty-bound to proceed with the prosecution.

"This judgement is directly relevant to the budget of the Presidency because this budget has allowed the President to use public money to employ every delay tactic in the book -- both legal and illegal -- in order to avoid having his day in court," Maimane said.

"Thus we cannot legitimize this budget giving the Presidency 505 million rand (about 34 million US dollars) this year," Maimane added.

The opposition cannot support any budget vote that legitimizes such actions, he added.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) slammed the boycott, calling it a "laughable publicity stunt" driven by "mob psychology".

No judgment of any court of law, including that of the Constitutional Court, has ever found that the president must be removed from office, the ANC chief whip's office said.

"The president is not facing any criminal charge; he has not been accused by any court of any crime," the office said. Endit