President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday survived another attempt to remove him from power when an opposition-sponsored motion failed to garner enough votes in parliament. The rand crashed more than 1% to R13.34 against the dollar within minutes of the speaker of the National Assembly announcing the results of the no-confidence vote. Members of the ANC closed ranks behind the party's president and defeated the motion by 198 votes, against 177. More than 20 ANC members of parliament voted against the party's president. In total 384 votes were cast. All the opposition parties combined have 151 members in the national assembly, against the ANC's 249. However, the opposition motion garnered the support of 177 members, 16 more than its total representation. Speaker Balek Mbete said there were nine absentations. The ANC enjoys a majority of 50 in the 400-member national assembly. This was the eighth attempt in parliament to pass a motion of no confidence since Zuma became president in 2009. It...
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