Cape Town – National Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete's decision to allow for the no confidence vote to be held by secret ballot on Tuesday, caught analysts by surprise.
“This was not expected, as reflected in the rand-dollar exchange rate, which strengthened immediately on the announcement to R13.19/USD from R13.35/$ before the announcement,” said Citi Velocity economist Gina Schoeman in a company note.
“We did not expect Mbete to allow for a secret ballot, as she has been assumed to be a supporter of President Jacob Zuma, particularly as she has shown interest in being an ANC presidential candidate at the December 2017 ANC elective conference.”
