No confidence loading: Will ANC members vote AGAINST the Cabinet?

How the planned motion of no confidence vote against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet will go on Wednesday, 30 March 2022, depends heavily on African National Congress (ANC) MPs – and whether or not they will opt to vote along party lines.

The motion was tabled by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which had recently asked Parliamentary Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to block Cabinet members from the proceedings, but this was denied.

DA leader John Steenhuisen had argued that there would be a conflict of interest, if Cabinet Members were allowed to take part in the motion of no confidence that seeks to remove them from office.

Mapisa-Nqakula told Steenhuisen that without any specific provision in the Constitution excluding Cabinet members from the voting process, they may not be denied their right to fully participate in the National Assembly’s proceedings.

WHO IN THE ANC COULD VOTE AGAINST THE CABINET?

The motion of no confidence against the Cabinet is far different from the one against President Cyril Ramaphosa – but one of the main questions is whether there will be political consequences for siding with the opposition, against certain ministers.

It is certainly no secret that the ANC has been plagued by division. Members of Cabinet aren’t all on the same camp and have often been at loggerheads. A good example would be Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, whose criticism about the Constitution led to some tensions in the party. As far as politics goes, ANC MPs who are more aligned to the so-called ‘RET’ faction of the party (Radical Economic Transformation), could express their dissatisfaction with Cabinet members who are aligned to Ramaphosa – and vice versa.