Cape Town - The ANC has defeated the official opposition’s motion of no confidence in the Cabinet with its majority in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
This comes after DA leader John Steenhuisen had tabled the motion calling for the Cabinet to be removed because it had failed in its duties.
The ANC’s majority of 231 MPs voted against the motion by the DA with 131 opposition MPs backing the motion. There was one member of Parliament who abstained.
The ANC National Executive Committee had earlier backed President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet.
“The NEC expressed its confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Cabinet appointed and led by him,” the ANC said.
The ANC’s majority in defeating the motion by the DA comes after the Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, referred another motion by the African Transformation Movement to the programming committee on Thursday.
The motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa was tabled by the ATM, but it wanted a secret ballot.
It went to the High Court in the Western Cape early this week seeking an urgent application but the court said it was not urgent.
The matter will now be heard in a normal court.
In the National Assembly the ATM and the EFF were pushing for a postponement of the motion.
But the other parties said the matter was not sub judice.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the programming committee will decide on what would happen to the motion.
The two motions were scheduled by the Speaker last week to be heard on Wednesday.
Political Bureau