A SOUTH AFRICAN court ruled yesterday that a no-confidence ballot in President Jacob Zuma can be held in secret — but it’s up to the speaker to decide.

The Constitutional Court in Johannesburg ruled against a bid by several opposition parties to force parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete to allow an unprecedented secret ballot.

The opposition claimed that ANC MPs would turn against Mr Zuma if their votes were not recorded.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said that whether a secret ballot takes place is up to the speaker but that her powers “belong to the people” and should not be used for partisan purposes — potentially opening the door to more litigation.

Ms Mbete had previously claimed that she did not have the power to carry out such a vote.

It is not clear whether the speaker intends to hold the ballot in secret but doing so would not necessarily strengthen the opposition’s bid to oust Mr Zuma, who has survived four no-confidence votes in his eight years as president.

Earlier ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said the group of 10 “veterans” and “stalwarts” who are critical of Mr Zuma had declined the offer to set aside two days at the start of a policy conference for debate on the state of the movement.

In an interview with the ANC Today website on Wednesday night, Ms Duarte said: “They have declined. It is not us, the ANC, who called it off. They declined to participate with our branches in a discussion.”

The stalwarts and opposition parties have demanded Mr Zuma’s resignation over allegations he is in the pocket of the Gupta business family — a position also backed by the South African Communist Party and union federation Cosatu.

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