Cape Town — The African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament will today allow the Congress of the People (COPE) to bring a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma to the floor of the National Assembly, but has warned it would mount a counter motion of full confidence in the president.

Very few opposition motions ever see the light of day following notice of the motion being given. They end up at the bottom of the order paper and eventually fall away. Approval for a motion of no confidence in the president is unprecedented.

COPE has been agitating for a no- confidence motion as a result of the controversies surrounding the president in the period leading up to the state of the nation address early last month. Yesterday a statement from ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga said that the ANC would use the COPE motion later today as an opportunity "to table a counter motion, which would ensure that Parliament expresses its full confidence in the capable leadership of President Jacob Zuma".

"We have no doubt whatsoever that the president has, in line with his responsibilities outlined in chapter 5 of the constitution, executed effectively his responsibilities as head of state. This was even confirmed by various independent rating agencies since he took office in May last year, which show the people's support in the leadership of President Zuma.

"It is really regrettable, if not embarrassing, that the only time that COPE get to be reported in the media in relation to its presence in Parliament is when they disrupt the formal proceedings of the National Assembly through publicity-seeking charades. The party's conspicuous absence on serious matters of national importance since coming to Parliament has in the past even put its MPs, particularly its leaders, in serious trouble with its rank and file members, including members of its youth desk," Motshekga said.

This was a clear reference to a recent incident when the COPE caucus walked out of the house following the ejection of its MP Mluleki George for failing to accept a ruling from the deputy speaker.

Motshekga went on to say that after more than 10 months in Parliament, COPE had nothing to show the electorate for its presence in the House "besides cheap stunts to grab media attention".

He accused the party of surviving on the coattails of the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA). "It is a slap in the face of the little percentage of the electorate that put COPE into this institution that the party today finds itself unable to stand on its own - preferring to ride on the wave of the DA's public profile every time an important matter arises".

He said the motion served only to divert Parliament from important issues facing the nation. The motion by COPE is motivated more by an institutionalised hatred for the president than for their love for the country.

"We wish to appeal to COPE to start taking its role in Parliament seriously and begin engaging substantively and qualitatively on issues of national importance, rather than treating this august House like a circus show," he concluded.