No witch-hunt but ‘consequences’

Predictably, the backlash against those ANC members that supported last week’s vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma in parliament has started. Yesterday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said although the ruling party “would not embark on a witch-hunt” to investigate which ANC MPs supported the motion, he stated there would be serious consequences.

“Three of them have confirmed they voted with the opposition. We will have to deal with that situation because if we don’t, we will destroy the essence of being an organisation,” said Mantashe.

Last Tuesday, Zuma narrowly survived the vote of no confidence via a secret ballot, with 177 members of parliament voting for him to go and 198 voting against the motion. Nine abstained. It was the eighth time Zuma had survived a vote of no confidence. More than 30 ANC MPs are believed to have supported the opposition’s motion to remove the president.

Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula has called for lie-detector tests to be administered to trace those party members who did not toe the party line during the no-confidence vote, while Zuma said he wanted MPs with “double hearts” to be dealt with.

What punishment these members of the ANC face is still unclear, but there’s no denying that this is a party that is clearly not moving in one direction.