Johannesburg - The African National Congress (ANC) will discipline party MPs who are confirmed to have voted with the opposition parties in the motion of no confidence vote against President Jacob Zuma, party secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday.
Mantashe did not name the MPs, but said the party will not go on a witch-hunt to identify MPs who voted against Zuma in Parliament last week.
"There is not going to be a witch-hunt for those who voted with the opposition. Where MPs came out and confirmed they voted with the opposition, we will have to deal with that situation," Mantashe said following a meeting of the party's national working committee.
Makhosi Khoza, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas have been outspoken in their criticism of Zuma and his leadership.
Khoza, who is facing disciplinary charges by her KwaZulu-Natal ANC, has confirmed she has voted against Zuma.
On Monday, ANC provincial working committees of KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, who are staunch supporters of Zuma, said the party's national executive committee urgently ''investigate and punish'' those who voted against the party line.
Meanwhile, the Mpumalanga and Limpopo jointly urged unity ahead of the December elective conference.
"The meeting resolved that the organisation must not engage in a witch-hunt against the comrades who voted with the opposition but the ANC must engage with all its members and deployees to restore organisational discipline," the two provinces said in a joint statement on Monday.
On August 8, Zuma survived a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly, but the result indicated that a significant number of ANC MPs broke ranks to support the opposition motion.
Speaker Baleka Mbete announced that 177 MPs voted in favour of the motion and 198 against it. There were nine abstentions.