ANC’s voting cattle in Parliament show signs of anti-Zuma revolt
Last week, ruling party MPs called for the removal of a Cabinet minister. Yunus Momoniat examines this uncharacteristic move
Something very exciting is happening in the ANC caucus in Parliament. Before the DA’s motion of no confidence was debated late in 2016, President Jacob Zuma rushed to Parliament to ensure that the ANC MPs would not support the opposition’s attempt to oust him. It showed that Zuma was unsure of his MPs’ loyalties and that some MPs had conveyed the impression that they wanted him removed from power. Indeed, no less than ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu had weeks earlier called for Zuma and the ANC’s entire national executive committee to resign. But, of course, in the end even Mthembu helped defeat the DA’s motion. Yet the chapter is evidence of a growing battle between pro-and anti-Zuma ANC MPs. There were 35 ANC MPs rumoured to have withheld their votes by being absent from Parliament to signal their sympathy for the motion. In February, when Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivered his budget speech, almost every MP gave him a standing ovation, save for four cabinet ministers: Zuma ...
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