#SecretBallot: ANC may be forced to recall Zuma

President Jacob Zuma Picture: Jacques Naude/ANA Pictures

President Jacob Zuma Picture: Jacques Naude/ANA Pictures

Published May 22, 2017

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Johannesburg - If a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma should be subjected to a secret ballot, the ANC will be forced to recall Zuma before the motion is tabled in the National Assembly, says political commentator Justice Malala.

The Constitutional Court (Concourt) last week reserved judgement on an application by opposition parties that the motion should be subjected to a secret ballot.

If the ConCourt gave the secret ballot the green light, Malala said the ANC would recall Zuma before the matter was tabled in Parliament, to save its embattled president the embarrassment of being voted out of power by the opposition.

Malala, speaking at the University of Johannesburg’s leadership seminar in Joburg on Monday, said however he did not think the no confidence motion “is going to happen”.

Several ANC MPs have told Independent Media that they would vote against Zuma if the motion was subjected to a secret ballot.

Malala said in his view the ruling party would win the national elections in 2019, due largely to its history as a former liberation movement and its sheer persistence.

This despite serious warnings by senior party leaders that the ANC would likely lose the elections if it failed to address internal challenges such as factionalism, among others.

But Malala said in his view the ANC would remain above 50% of the vote in 2019, adding that the sheer persistence of the party’s brand, would carry it through.

He said EFF leader Julius Malema’s “kingmaker status” will be enhanced in 2019. Malema’s EFF helped put the DA in charge of the metros of Joburg and Tshwane, following last year’s watershed municipal elections.

Malala said every former liberation movement “loses power in 30 years of become a dictatorship”. He said the ANC, which has been in power since 1994, was almost at a level of a split as factions were pulling at different directions.

He also touched on the contentious land issue, saying people would be “consumed” by debate on it for the next 10 years. “We have avoided it for too long. We should have that debate now.”

It was not all doom and gloom, however. Malala said the positives vibes for South Africa included the minimum wage, its strong, independent institutions, and the vibrant civil society which held those in power to account.

@luyolomkentane

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Political Bureau

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