Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane said Thursday marked a significant moment in South Africa’s democracy following the Constitutional Court’s judgment in the Nkandla saga.

The Constitutional Court ruled that President Jacob Zuma was liable to pay some of the money spent on upgrades at his Nkandla home in KwaZulu-Natal.

Speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Friday, Maimane said there was no debate that the judgment was a victory for South Africans and the Constitution.

“President Jacob Zuma failed to protect [the country’s] Constitution,” he stated.

The Constitutional Court had ordered National Treasury to determine a reasonable portion that Zuma must pay for five non-security items at his private home and report back to the court within 60 days.

The court ordered Zuma to make the payment within 45 days after that.

Maimane, accompanied by DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen and DA MP Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, also called for Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete to resign.

He said failure to do so would leave his party no choice but to table a further motion of no confidence against her. 

Maimane said the DA contended that Mbete was derelict in her custodial duty to uphold the Constitution.

He added that South Africans should not take the process of impeachment, upon which the DA was embarking, lightly.

“It should be used to send a message to the President and the people of South Africa that abuse of the Constitution – which the President has sworn an oath to uphold and protect – will not be tolerated,” said Maimane.

He argued that if the bid for impeachment was successful, the President would not only be removed from office, but would also lose the perks of office he would have accrued.

Maimane said the DA had consulted with the Economic Freedom Fighters to discuss appropriate steps to follow during the impeachment attempt.

Steenhuisen added that Parliament could not deny that it was not warned about the outcome of the Concourt judgment.

He added that Mbete should seek to restore lost integrity but noted that the African National Congress was instead deciding on how to protect Zuma.

Steenhuisen asserted that Zuma had failed to protect the Constitution and reiterated that the DA wanted to compel Parliament to take the strong step of impeaching Zuma.