Johannesburg – The ANC has dismissed calls by President Jacob Zuma's supporters for action against those who may have voted in favour of a motion of no confidence against him, saying it would only amount to chasing shadows.
ANC MPs defeated a motion for Zuma's removal by 198 to 177 votes on Tuesday with 9 abstentions. This means at least 30 to 40 ANC MPS refused to toe the party line.
“What members need to understand is that the ANC shouldn’t be chasing a shadow of itself, where everybody is the enemy. It can’t be,” said the party's national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa.
The ANC Youth League president and Umkhonto WeSizwe Military Veterans Association’s president have both expressed a desire to see MPs, who said they would not vote against the motion, plucked out of the legislature.
ANCYL president Collen Maine said although he accepted there was no way of finding out the identity of those who could have cost Zuma his presidency, action should be taken against MPs who previously expressed a motion of no confidence in the president.
“Those who have been vocal must be removed from Parliament,” Maine told News24.