ANC’s chief whip portends anarchy if Zuma is voted out
Jackson Mthembu’s incendiary claims of the entire Cabinet being obliged to resign causing a collapse of government, are incorrect
In a dramatic media briefing ahead of Tuesday’s vote of no confidence, ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu warned that ousting President Jacob Zuma through parliamentary means would be tantamount to hurling a nuclear bomb at the South African economy. Mthembu’s briefing on Friday came a day after ANC MP Derek Hanekom said more than half the MPs in the party’s caucus were concerned with state capture and believed action was needed. Mthembu — often described as not being a Zuma supporter — sought to hush speculation that ANC MPs would vote with the opposition for a vote of no confidence in Zuma. He said removing a “democratically elected president” deployed by his party to lead was undemocratic and that a subsequent resignation of Cabinet would plunge the country into economic and political uncertainty. Mthembu’s remarks were curious in the sense that the Constitution does not, in fact, require the dissolution of Cabinet if the president loses power in a vote of no confidence in Parliament...
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