South Africa: Opposition pushes for a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma

A briefing by the Institute for Security Studies detailing a November 2012 attempt by South African opposition parties to remove President Jacob Zuma via a vote of no confidence, the political hurdles to such a motion, and reports on public sector corruption.

• On 8 November 2012, a coalition of opposition parties led by the Democratic Alliance (DA) tabled a vote of no confidence to remove President Jacob Zuma from power. The motion was based on the government's failure to uphold the constitution, the poor economy, credit rating downgrades by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, escalating public sector corruption, and the Marikana tragedy.
• The vote of no confidence is unlikely to succeed because it requires a two-thirds majority. This would necessitate the support of the entire opposition (excluding three minority parties) and at least 68 Members of Parliament from the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2012). South Africa: Opposition pushes for a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/cpra-daily-briefing/south-africa-opposition-pushes-for-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-president-jacob-zuma

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. South Africa: Opposition pushes for a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. 2012. https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/cpra-daily-briefing/south-africa-opposition-pushes-for-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-president-jacob-zuma.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=South Africa: Opposition pushes for a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma |date=8 November 2012 |url=https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/cpra-daily-briefing/south-africa-opposition-pushes-for-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-president-jacob-zuma |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2012south, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{South Africa: Opposition pushes for a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2012}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/cpra-daily-briefing/south-africa-opposition-pushes-for-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-president-jacob-zuma}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }