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Thabo Mbeki: A question of conscience
Mbeki draws attention to Mogoeng’s Nkandla ruling: office-bearers ignore constitutional obligations at their peril
Former president Thabo Mbeki has once more emerged from the shadows of retirement to throw a log on the political fire. In an article, Mbeki wonders aloud what MPs should do when confronted with a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. The vote is set for next week and the mathematics are interesting. The ANC has 249 of the 400 seats in the national assembly. Assuming all MPs are present and all opposition MPs vote in favour, it would take 50 ANC MPs to switch sides for Zuma to lose the presidency. It would take 101 to abstain for a similar effect to be achieved. Mbeki’s intervention is, in essence, an argument that MPs ought to vote with their consciences and not along party lines.
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