National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete said on Friday that the Constitutional Court had not said when she should make her decision known on a secret vote of no confidence in the president.
She was responding to chief whip of the Democratic Alliance John Steenhuisen’s “demand” regarding a decision on the appropriate voting procedure by Friday.
Mbete said in a statement on Friday that she’d communicate her decision “to parties at the earliest opportunity‚ before the scheduled debate on 8 August 2017”.
The Constitutional Court found that the speaker has the discretion to determine a voting procedure in a motion of no confidence and that it must take into account various factors‚ including that such a decision must be rational and not be made arbitrarily.
“In this respect‚ while the court did not prescribe a specific timeframe within which such a decision must be made‚ due regard must‚ as stated by the Court‚ be given to the circumstances prevalent in a particular case to ensure that the test of rationality is met. The circumstances in the case in question require careful consideration‚” she said.