Parliament – Parliament on Thursday confirmed its received a second letter from an opposition party to schedule a motion of no confidence vote in President Jacob Zuma – this time from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
"The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete, will apply her mind and respond accordingly in due course," the two sentence media statement said. The response from Parliament was exactly the same as the one received by the Democratic Alliance (DA) when it asked for a vote this week.
On Friday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said he had already received phone calls from some ruling African National Congress MPs, saying they would support the vote.
He would not name the MPs. The calls came after President Jacob Zuma sacked Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.
Several other ministers also got the chop, including Derek Hanekom, Dipuo Peters, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, and Ngoako Ramatlhodi.
However, they remain ANC MPs. During a media briefing on Friday, Gordhan was asked how he would vote should Mbete gave permission for the vote to go ahead.
"I will be guided by my conscience ... and hopefully do the right thing," Gordhan replied.