The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has requested that voting in its Motion of No Confidence brought against President Cyril Ramaphosa should be through secret ballot, citing integrity of the voting process.

On Tuesday, the party wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to consider its intentions to table a motion in Parliament.

This after the party said Ramaphosa failed to meet the Tuesday deadline set by the Chief Justice to file opposing papers in the Constitutional Court.

MKP president Jacob Zuma and the party challenged Ramaphosa’s decision to place Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on a leave of absence, and said Firoz Cachalia’s subsequent appointment as Acting Minister was illegal.

The party has been vocal in calling on Ramaphosa to withdraw his announcement of Mchunu’s leave and Cachalia’s appointment, threatening legal action, should he fail.

Chief Justice Mandisa Maya has since requested that Zuma and his party file their heads of argument by July 27, and the respondents were given until July 28 to do the same.

The matter is set down for hearing on July 30.

The MKP stated that Ramaphosa’s actions on Mchunu’s leave and Cachalia’s appointment raised significant constitutional questions and concerns about transparency, accountability and his overall leadership, and the party further claimed that South Africa had lost confidence in Ramaphosa’s leadership.

In a letter addressed to Didiza, MKP deputy president and Parliamentary leader John Hlophe said a secret ballot for the No Confidence Motion would safeguard the integrity of the voting process and ensure that the outcome reflected the true will of the Members of Parliament.

He explained that it would ensure that Members of Parliament were able to exercise their constitutional duty “freely and without fear of intimidation or reprisal”.

“…this is particularly important given the sensitive nature of the motion and the potential political consequences for individual members,” he said.