By PETER DUBE

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South African President Jacob Zuma Tuesday survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence, as ruling ANC lawmakers stuck by their leader despite divisions and fierce criticism of his rule.

The no-confidence motion needed to secure 201 of the 400 votes in parliament to succeed, but fell short with only 177 votes in favour, national assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete announced. About 26 ANC legislators voted with the opposition while nine abstained in the secret ballot.

Criticism of Mr Zuma from within the African National Congress (ANC) has grown amid multiple corruption scandals and mounting economic woes, and the celebrated party of Nelson Mandela has declined sharply at the polls.

But ANC officials and most analysts had predicted that the president would survive the vote given the party’s large parliamentary majority.

The ANC parliamentary party celebrated victory over what it described as an attempted “soft coup”.

“It has been the publicly stated intention of the opposition... to collapse government, deter service delivery and sow seeds of chaos in society to ultimately grab power,” it said in a statement.

Mr Zuma, who has built up a network of loyalists in the ANC since coming to power in 2009, has survived several previous parliamentary votes but these had been held without secret balloting.

Protests

Earlier Tuesday, protests broke out across South Africa’s northern province of Gauteng ahead of the no-confidence vote against Mr Zuma.

The protesters for and against the vote, blocked roads, in the commercial hub Johannesburg and capital Pretoria, with burning tyres and rocks as early as 4am local time.
Bus services were disrupted by the blockades‚ forcing transport firms to suspend operations.

Among the areas in Johannesburg and Pretoria that were most affected include Soweto, Zandspruit, Booysens, Turffontein, Soshanguve, Atteredgeville and Mamelodi.

'Corrupt' leader

During the Parliament debate, South Africa’s opposition derided President Zuma as a “broken and corrupt” leader.

“Since the dawn of our democracy, the stakes have never been higher,” Mr Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, told lawmakers.

“Our choice is between right and wrong, between good and evil. Vote with your conscience, and remove this corrupt and broken president from office.”

Zuma, 75, is due to step down as head of the ANC in December, and as president before the 2019 General Election — lessening pressure for his party to trigger imminent change.

The ANC has acknowledged recent criticism of the party, including the impact of a cabinet reshuffle in March when respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan was replaced with a close Zuma ally.

-Additional reporting from Agencies