Thousands of e-mails pour in to ANC MPS’ inboxes as no-confidence vote looms

THOUSANDS of e-mails have been sent to ANC MPS asking that they vote President Jacob Zuma out of office in the Vote of No Confidence in Parliament on Tuesday

Civil society formations are also seeking divine intervention and staging pickets to oust the president.

The protests are planned in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town between today and Monday.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said the ruling party MPS were under enormous pressure from the public to support the motion of no confidence.

“There are those who have e-mailed us thousands and thousands of e-mails. Many members of the ANC receive e-mails, and they are saying we must act in the interest of our country,” Mthembu said.

He said their decision to vote against the motion would be exactly doing that.

“Doing anything different will not be acting in the interest of the country,” Mthembu told journalists at a briefing.

The Futuresa movement has billed Tuesday as the “National Day of No Confidence” and has planned pickets between 12 and 2pm in three major cities.

The Active Citizens Movement (ACM) and Futuresa will host a prayer tomorrow at the Kendra Hall calling for people to pray for Zuma’s fall, while on Tuesday, in umhlanga at the Millennium Bridge, a lunchtime shutdown is planned between 12 and 2pm.

Ben Madokwe, a spokesperson for the ACM, said they were calling on “good citizens” to attend the multifaith prayer calling for Zuma to go.

“We are praying that the vote of no confidence succeeds in the interest of the country and saving the country. We are in a crisis, we cannot say it is business as usual.

“In whichever organisation where the chief executive is implicated in corruption, for that organisation to move forward, you need to get rid of the leader to restore the organisation in a good path. We pray for the motion of no confidence to succeed,” he said.

The rand has weakened in past weeks, reaching R13.44 to the dollar by close of business on Friday, when on July 20 it had been as strong as R12.96.

Senior economist at the Bureau for Economic Research, Hugo Pienaar, said the rand was getting weaker than the dollar at a time when the dollar was being weakened by major currencies.

“That speaks to specific concerns related to South Africa,” said Pienaar.

“There is an increase in concern about the SOES, with potential bailouts or guarantees that government has to foot the bill for,” he said.

Pienaar said the markets were expecting Zuma to survive the motion of no confidence, but said were he to go, there could be further uncertainty as his whole cabinet would need to resign.

“If it does succeed it will probably have a positive impact in the markets given that the negativity is behind the president. His removal may lay the foundation for change and this may have a positive impact on the currency,” he said.

Patrick Bond, professor of political economy at Wits University, said: “In spite of its recent weakening, the rand is surprisingly high against the dollar; remember the low point was R17.90 in January 2016.” He said markets would celebrate Zuma’s exit if it were to happen on Tuesday, but would celebrate “even harder” if the ANC was ousted in the next general election.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Speaker Baleka Mbete has the discretion to decide whether the vote should be a secret or an open ballot on Tuesday.

Mthembu said Zuma’s removal would thrust the country into uncertainty.

“This will inadvertently negatively affect the poor and working class the most as they are dependent on the government for their livelihoods,” he said.

The ANC caucus supported the institution of the judicial commission of inquiry, which Zuma was now challenging in the courts. Those who were guilty needed to be prosecuted, he said.

However, Mthembu also said easy and short-sighted solutions should not be sought for difficult political problems. He said the motion was a political ploy.

“We are also protecting the electoral system which places authority to deploy MPS in the respective political parties who contested elections. All MPS from all parties take a mandate from their parties. ANC MPS should not be expected to be different.”