Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court has ruled on the UDM's application to force National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete to conduct the vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma by secret ballot.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng ruled on Thursday that Mbete as Speaker does have the Constitutional power to decide whether or not to hold a secret ballot.
Opposition parties asked Mbete to schedule a vote of no confidence in Zuma following his controversial Cabinet reshuffle at the end of March, in which Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and other ministers were fired.
The vote was initially set down for April 18. The opposition however asked for it to be postponed pending the application for the vote to take place in secret, in the hope that this would encourage enough ANC MPs to vote against Zuma for it to succeed.
We have developed a tool to enable South Africans to choose a parliamentarian to contact and ask them to vote in one way or another. Select an MP from the blue drop down menu, fill in the brief form, and send the email.