The speaker of the South African parliament was on Monday due to announce whether an upcoming no-confidence vote in President Jacob Zuma will be held by secret ballot, which would raise the chances of parliament ousting him. Baleka Mbete had delayed the announcement until the eve of the vote, which is due to take place on Tuesday. Zuma has already survived seven no confidence votes since he became president in 2009, but they were all held on open ballots. For parliament to oust Zuma, at least 50 of the ANC's 249 legislators would have to vote against him, in addition to all the opposition MPs in the 400-seat assembly. The no confidence vote was proposed by the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in April after Zuma fired respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan, prompting two ratings agencies to downgrade South Africa's credit rating to junk.

Source: The China Post August 07, 2017 12:56 UTC