Predictably, Parliament has sided with the minority judgement in the recent case in the Constitutional Court seeking the institution of proceedings to remove President Jacob Zuma from office for violations of the Constitution. Among the minority of four judges, the chief justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, has accused the majority of seven judges of "judicial overreach".
Even though Parliament says it will "comply fully" with the majority judgement, which instructs it to make rules to regulate impeachment proceedings within 120 days and to start such proceedings within 180 days, experience suggests it will find ways to be dilatory and otherwise obstructive. The court indeed pointed out that the National Assembly had previously acted unconstitutionally in protecting Mr Zuma.
Even if Parliament were now to surprise everyone by "fully" complying with the court's instructions, Mr Zuma can be relied upon to find numerous ways of giving any impeachment proceedings the run-around so that he remains in office until his term expires in the middle of next year. He will continue to treat Parliament with as much disdain as he does the courts. For a start, even if Parliament gets around to drawing up the rules mandated by the court, Mr Zuma will probably try to get them upset on appeal. Impeachment may never happen.
The case successfully brought before the Constitutional Court by the Economic Freedom Fighters, the United Democratic Movement, and the Congress of the People would then turn out to have been a pyrrhic victory which leaves Mr Zuma the winner.
Of course, there is a view that it would actually be a good thing for Mr Zuma to continue in office. The argument is that he would continue to do so much damage to the African National Congress (ANC) that it would lose the national election due around the middle of next year. On the other hand, if he were to be replaced as president of the country by Cyril Ramaphosa, a supposedly new-look ANC would mop up support that might otherwise have gone to the Democratic Alliance (DA).
If nothing else, however, electoral considerations give the ANC an interest in getting rid of Mr Zuma as soon as possible. Whereas impeachment is a quasi-judicial process, at the end of which removal would require a two-thirds majority, there is a much swifter, cleaner, and simpler solution. This is the parliamentary no-confidence vote, which is a political remedy that requires only a simple majority.