South Africa’s ruling ANC party has rallied behind President Jacob Zuma after the country’s Public Protector implied that he may have allowed the wealthy Gupta family to influence cabinet appointments.
The ANC leadership vowed to block an opposition attempt to unseat the president through a vote f no-confidence.
ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said the Public Protector’s investigation of Zuma’s links with the Guptas, who are his friends and in business with his son, was “inconclusive” and made no definite findings against him.
Lawmakers will debate a motion of no confidence in Zuma in the National Assembly on Thursday introduced by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party that’s accused the president of abusing his office to promote his own financial interests and those of his allies.
“The DA has now made this an annual and frivolous ritual,” Mantashe said. “It is fast losing its meaning. The discussion of this vote of no confidence has no chance of succeeding.”
The ANC controls 62 percent of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, which appoints the president. If a majority of lawmakers backs the no-confidence motion Zuma and his entire cabinet would be forced to resign.
