ANC alliance partners Cosatu and the SACP hit back at critics at the weekend, saying they did not support Tuesday’s no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma "in principle" but would continue to call for his resignation.
Cosatu and the SACP face a public backlash for calling on their members to vote in support of Zuma in Parliament, despite their long-standing positions against his leadership of the ANC and government.
The organisations said they wanted Zuma alone to fall, and "as a matter of principle" they would not support a motion brought by opposition parties, even if it aided their objective.
Both said they were waiting to discuss their call for Zuma to step down with the ANC at an alliance political council meeting, which was yet to be rescheduled, and would not resort to any other alternatives until then.
An alliance meeting was called off by the ANC in June after it said it wanted bilateral talks first. Cosatu then cancelled its bilateral meeting with the ANC at the eleventh hour, amid disunity in the labour federation.
"These are internal matters of the ANC-led alliance and they must be dealt with internally. Cosatu has an outstanding meeting with the ANC to discuss that question. So we do not expect members of the ANC to vote with the opposition whether it is secret or not secret, it’s just unacceptable," said Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini.
Cosatu also planned further internal discussions on its next move as calls for Zuma to step down had been ignored.
SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo said the party did not intend to punish government leaders who "had been fighting corruption", as they would also find themselves out of jobs should the motion against Zuma succeed.
He insisted the no-confidence motion had to be differentiated from the removal of the president, as per section 89 of the Constitution, as it had greater implications beyond Zuma’s fall.
The opposition’s agenda was to "dislodge" the ANC from power. Mashilo cited DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s statement that he wanted early elections if Zuma lost the vote.
"That motions of no confidence by the opposition parties lumps together everybody as if they were corrupt and captured," Mashilo said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.