Zuma's impeachment debated in Parliament

A vote saw 100 MPs for and 211 against the motion. There were 17 abstentions.

It was preceded by robust debate that was accompanied by the usual numerous points of order as members of parliament representing the various political parties took to the podium to either support the motion or reject it.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane fired the first salvo and again called the president a broken man as he encouraged MPs to use the opportunity to put South Africa back on track by recalling Zuma. 

He has told the House the ANC is a shadow of what it once was.

''Gone is the selfless struggle of President Nelson Mandela. Instead in its place we find a shell that reverberates with empty rhetoric A party hollowed out by President Zuma and a corrupt clique around him.

''The people who will bring us Nkandlagate, Guptagate, Spygate, and, coming soon to a tender near you, Nucleargate,'' he charged.

The EFF's Godrich Gardee agrees that Zuma should step down.

''The president should actually go, it is long overdue. He should actually be thrown to the dustbin of history because he is an electoral disaster. However, the EFF does not agree with reasons for his impeachment,'' he said.

But the ANC's Lindiwe Zulu has hit back.

''Honourable members, I wish to state from the onset that the African National Congress will not support this motion,'' she said.

The DA had wanted an Ad Hoc Committee to be set up to look into Zuma's fitness to hold office, particularly after Sudanese President Omar-Al-Bashir was recently allowed a safe passage out of the country instead of being arrested when he attended the African Union summit in Sandton in June.

(File photo: Gallo Images)