South Africa’s president faces a no confidence vote

Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa faced a secret no confidence motion early on Tuesday as the parliament prepared to vote him out of the office. This has come after the continuous allegations of corruption and influence-peddling against him and his government.

President Zuma is reported to have so far survived seven no confidence votes however, none of them had been held secretly.

This time round, the opposition parties believe that MPs from the governing African National Congress (ANC) are also more likely to vote against the president now that the voting was secret.

Julius Malema, the EFF opposition leader told the crowd that if ANC MPs “vote for Zuma even in the secret voting, then the problem is not Zuma, it’s all these criminals in the parliament. If they vote for Zuma, they cease to be honorable members and become fellow criminals with Zuma.”

The crowd had gathered on the streets around the parliament on Tuesday, to listen to the opposition leaders making it clear of how so tired they are of President Zuma.

Malema suggested it was time for Zuma to rather go and look after his cattle. He added that South Africa deserved better than Zuma, whose cows have a better life than the South Africans.

The voting was made secret by the parliament speaker, Baleka Mbete on Monday, after the opposition parties took the case to the Constitutional Court.

Criticisms against Mr. Zuma increased this year especially after when he fired his widely respected Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, in March.

Opposition parties also accused Zuma of being too close to the wealthy family of the Gupta. The Gupta are accused of trying to influence political decisions including the sacking of the Finance Minister.

However, Zuma and the Gupta family both denied the accusations.

Critics also show that he has mismanaged the economy and failed to raise the living standards.

Julius Malema promised that even if the opposition failed to remove Zuma today, they would still go after him until he steps down.

“He will never have a peaceful sleep. He will only sleep peacefully if he resigns and goes to Nkandla to look after his cattle,” he said.

Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, an opposition member from UDM also said that, “The ANC has said if we vote the president out, it will be like a nuclear bomb. But … tell them that no nuclear bomb can be worse than Zuma’s rule.”

Correspondent: Shamilah Namuddu