However the ANC is deeply fractured, with an increasingly vocal faction seeking root-and-branch reform, and some of its lawmakers are likely to vote with the opposition motion. The opposition, principally composed of the Democratic Alliance and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), will need about 50 ANC defectors for the no-confidence motion to pass. The DA said the vote was “an opportunity for us all to stand up to corruption and get rid of President Zuma and his cabinet”. For more than a year South African media have reported a string of allegations of improper influence and graft. The political instability comes against a background of economic stagnation, with high levels of unemployment and sharpening resentment at South Africa’s deep, enduring inequality.

Source: The Guardian August 07, 2017 15:06 UTC