Today, we protest on the steps of the National Assembly, where just a week ago, the SAPS’s Public Order Policing Unit entered the Chamber in an attempt to silence the Opposition.
 

 
The Opposition is so vocal, because accountability is dying in South Africa today.
 

 
President Zuma sets the example for his ANC executive, and all the ANC provincial executives, to ignore the many questions on burning issues for which South Africans deserve answers.
 

 
Since May, approximately 588 of the DA’s parliamentary questions remain unanswered by the President and his executive. Hundreds more “non-answers” have also been submitted by an executive that does not value accountability.
 

 
In our provinces the statistics for unanswered questions are even more alarming. Consider that, in the Northern Cape the executive has failed to answer 87% of questions this year, the Eastern Cape 45% and Limpopo 26%.
 

 
Questions are asked in Parliament because the answers have real implications for the lives of ordinary South Africans.
 

 
Where are the answers on Nkandla? Much of the public money for this unlawful personal enrichment of the President came from funds meant for service delivery for the poor.
 

 
Where are the answers on toilets in our Limpopo schools? Or furniture in our Eastern Cape schools? Where are the answers on settlement upgrading in Gauteng? Or on accountability for the millions in wasteful expenditure we see every year?
 

 
We therefore demand today that President Zuma appears before Parliament during this term, to account and to answer questions. We also demand that the national executive and all provincial cabinets urgently answer all outstanding questions.
 

 
The President and the Executive are required by the Constitution to account to South Africans, and they must answer the questions that we put to them. Failing to answer questions, is failing the people of South Africa. The people deserve to know.
 

 
Every day that President Zuma spends away from Parliament is denying Parliament its mandate to hold him to account.  And every day the President sets the worst possible example for his colleagues in all ANC governments to follow.
 

 
Yesterday’s Motion of Censure was the strongest message we could send to President Zuma that we will not stand for his breaking of the Rules.
 

 
On Tuesday morning we entered negotiations with the Deputy President in good faith, wanting to restore order in Parliament and facilitate effective executive oversight.
 

 
We want to facilitate robust debate in terms of the rules.
 

 
But the solution of Deputy President Ramaphosa, affords him too much control over what parliament does and how parliament does it.
 

 
He is a Member of the Executive and has no right to tell Parliament how to function.
 

 
If we were to allow Ramaphosa to dictate the Parliamentary programme, it would be tantamount to surrendering all legislative independence to the executive.
 

 
That is why the debate on the Motion of Censure was vital to our democracy.
 

 
The fact is that the ANC is in crisis, not our Parliament and legislatures.
 

 
The ANC executive must honour our Constitution and be accountable to all South Africans. That is what we demand today.