Speaker permits secret no confidence vote

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete today (Monday) announced that the vote on the motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma, to be debated in Parliament tomorrow, will be decided by secret ballot. A report on the IoL site notes that the decision comes after the Constitutional Court ruled that she had the power to decide whether MPs could cast their vote in secret. Many political observers believe that a secret ballot could cause irrevocable damage to the ANC, as it would make it easier for MPs who are opposed to state capture and the scandal-ridden Zuma administration to vote with the opposition, in defiance of the ruling party's directive to toe the party line.