ANC welcomes Speaker's decision for a secret ballot

7 August 2017

The African National Congress has noted the decision reached by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Comrade Baleka Mbete, that voting on the motion of no confidence against the President of the Republic, Comrade Jacob Zuma, tomorrow, 8 August 2017, shall be by secret ballot. The ANC is on the record having said that the organization will accept and abide with any decision that the Speaker takes in this regard, having duly applied herself to the considerations before her.

The ANC reiterates its stance that we have full confidence in the ANC Caucus and individual members of parliament deployed by the African National Congress. We do not nor have we ever doubted their loyalty and discipline in relation to the decisions of the movement. Accordingly, we have no doubt that this frivolous motion, which has been hyped up by opposition parties as some sort of Damascus moment, will fail like many before it.

We appreciate that the opposition in South Africa exists for no other reason except to oppose the leadership, policies and programmes of the ANC which have been proven through independent research to have advanced the cause of the black majority and are progressively working to create a better life for all our people. 

The ANC welcomes the opportunity to once again use the occasion of the debate on the motion of no confidence to speak to these successes which are daily lived reality for many of our people. Where there are concerns with the leadership of the ANC, the ANC will continue to engage and work with our people to resolve these challenges in the interest of the country as a whole. Our primary focus remains on advancing the gains of our democracy and driving radical socio-economic transformation to the benefit of all in South Africa. 

Issued by Zizi Kodwa, National Spokesperson, ANC, 7 August 2017