Cape Town – Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane on Wednesday morning called for the dissolution of Parliament, saying South Africans have lost trust in the ruling African National Congress. 

In terms of Section 50 of the Constitution, President Jacob Zuma should call for early elections once a motion to dissolve Parliament succeeds, Maimane said. 

“We say, bring it on! Let’s fight an election for the future of our country, and let’s do it now. By the time Jacob Zuma has destroyed the ANC completely, and the country, it will be too late. Let’s let the country choose a new beginning, now.”

Speaking to journalists at a press briefing to announce the DA’s “plan of action” following a failed motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday, Maimane said the official opposition will table the motion to dissolve Parliament on Thursday. 

Zuma survived the vote of no confidence on Tuesday after 198 MPs voted against a motion of no confidence in him. Some 177 MPs voted in favour of the motion and nine MPs abstained.

Around 30 ANC MPs are believed to have voted against the party line and in favour of the motion.

Maimane said the motion proved that South Africans are not divided along racial or political lines, but by “those who support and defend corruption and those who are against it in all its forms”.

“The change we need, and the new beginning we all want, will not come from an ANC elective conference in December. We need a new government, and a new beginning, now! That’s why we need fresh elections and a fresh mandate.”

Maimane said the DA has filed an intervening application in the Constitutional Court case on the procedures to be followed in impeachment proceedings against the president.

He said the party will also continue its legal action against Zuma and “his group of corrupt friends” when Zuma has to defend himself in the Supreme Court of Appeal in September against the 783 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering. 

The DA is challenging a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decision to withdraw the charges close to the time Zuma was sworn in as president as 2009.

Maimane said that Tuesday’s failed motion is not the end of South Africa’s “young democracy”, but is a “new beginning.” 

“South Africa is now truly on the cusp of renewal and change. And that change cannot come soon enough.”