Some ANC MPs welcome decision on secret ballot

SOME of the MPs who are expected to vote against President Jacob Zuma in Parliament today, expressed happiness at Speaker Baleka Mbete’s decision that the no confidence motion be conducted by secret ballot.

But opposition parties are still not convinced.

Late yesterday they were trying to set up a meeting with ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu for today to discuss the mechanics of the secret ballot ahead of the vote by MPs later in the day.

IFP chief whip Narend Singh said they would meet with Mthembu today ahead of the vote to discuss the procedure.

He said this was to ensure there are no gaps in the system and that nobody will know how each MP voted in the secret ballot.

In a helter-skelter period of lastminute activity, top ANC officials were at the parliamentary caucus at least four times to discuss the motion of no confidence and urged MPs to toe the party line.

But it appears some may not. Minutes after Mbete announced her decision, ANC MP Zukiswa Rantho, whose name appears in a list of ANC MPs expected to vote against Zuma, said that she was “very pleased” at the Speaker’s decision.

“There is nothing shocking about this. I knew from the get-go that it’s going to be a secret ballot. The pressure for a secret ballot was just too much. Actually, I’m very pleased about this decision because we have to show the nation that we’ve got nothing to hide and that we are accountable to the citizens.”

Rantho is acting chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises. The committee is among four tasked with investigating the state capture allegations.

Rantho is “Number 69” on a circulating list of more than 90 ANC MPs who are expected to vote against Zuma.

However, the ANC caucus in Parliament has dismissed the list as “fake news”, saying some people on the list were no longer MPs and that “this shows the utter desperation of our detractors”.

The usual suspects on the list, among others, include axed finance minister Pravin Gordhan, former Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele and Dr Makhosi Khoza, who have all called on Zuma to step down.

Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said that she would not vote with her conscience, but would toe the party line.

“Never, ever in my life will I vote with the opposition, over my dead body. The announcement about the secret ballot didn’t matter at all to me,” said Molewa.

Social Development Minister and ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini said the DA-sponsored motion was an attempt to “usurp power” from the governing ANC.

“This is part of usurping power. What’s sad is that this agenda is a personal vendetta that started a long, long time ago,” Dlamini said.

She said that they would take their “marching orders” from the ANC.