Secret ballot bid assumes ANC MPs are 'spineless' - Mbete
13 April 2017
Cape Town - There are no exceptional circumstances warranting the United Democratic Movement direct access to the Constitutional Court, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete believes.
Furthermore, the UDM had not exhausted other alternatives before approaching the court with an application for a secret ballot in the motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma, she said in an affidavit filed on Thursday.
The application had no merit and it did not fall within the court's exclusive jurisdiction, she said.
On Wednesday, the court allowed the UDM direct access to argue its case. It gave parties wishing to oppose the UDM's application until 12:00 on Thursday to file papers, and the UDM until 16:00 next Wednesday to file its reply.