Tuesday afternoon’s secret ballot looms, but many are doubtful that the ANC MPs will vote against Zuma. Parliament needs 50 ANC MPs to vote against him to force him to step down. Social media is using the #DialAnMP to hold ANC MPs accountable, urging them to vote with their conscience.
Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete shocked South Africans on Monday when she announced that the vote of no confidence against Zuma will be held by secret ballot in Parliament on Tuesday. Previous votes in Parliament had been transparent and many said the ANC MPs were unable to vote against Zuma publicly because they would be victimised for defying the party line.
Tumi Sole, a social activist, started a social media campaign called #DialAnMP which trended online on Monday evening. Sole has been publishing the names and contact details of ANC MPs under the hashtag #DialAnMP in the hope that social media users will SMS, call or email MPs to vote with their conscience.
“[On Monday] we ran a social media campaign called #KeNakoSA where we put the email addresses and numbers of MPs and asking people to contact them “to vote with their conscience and nothing else,†Sole says.
#dialanmp is now trending in #Johannesburghttps://t.co/fb9HuY3Zq8 pic.twitter.com/ooKgMvy86u
— Trendsmap Jo’burg (@TrendsJoBurg) August 8, 2017
The campaign is being run on theTwitter account, @CountryDutyZA.
Robert Haydn Davies • 0824586755 • #KeNakoSA: #CountryDuty, #CountryFirst • #DialAnMP pic.twitter.com/A9SXYGznpL
— #CountryDuty (@CountryDutyZA) August 8, 2017
Pakishe Aaron Motsoaledi • 0716004961 • #KeNakoSA: #CountryDuty, #CountryFirst • #DialAnMP pic.twitter.com/EEhDjIplEx
— #CountryDuty (@CountryDutyZA) August 8, 2017
Sole has been criticised for publishing MPs’ contact details saying that this is a breach of privacy but he says that these are publically available numbers found on the Parliament website.
#DialAnMP info is obtained from https://t.co/frzdVTMcbW • #CountryDuty
— #CountryDuty (@CountryDutyZA) August 7, 2017
Sole urges the public to ask ANC MPs to do what’s best for the country.
“SMS, call, email them and say, ‘listen, I have kids, I’d like a sustainable SA’. The real issue is this one individual. Let’s put him aside, work with what we have and move the country forward.â€
Social media users certainly did their country duty and SMSed MPs asking them to cast the vote against Zuma later on Tuesday.
#CountryDuty #DialAnMP just one text at a time cc @tumisole @CountryDutyZA pic.twitter.com/Pci6QD6D6q
— Noxy (@NoxyTheGirl) August 7, 2017
#DialAnMP #KeNakoSA #CountryDuty South Africa I have done my bit for 2day. Please carry the touch forward #SecretBallot #NoConfidence pic.twitter.com/x8HSQFMUOg
— Baby Boss (@loopyhead55) August 8, 2017
done my part pic.twitter.com/ZmzHOri3IQ
— #nationalshutdown (@TdatAngelo) August 7, 2017
Some MPs even responded indicating their party loyalty to the ANC.
We’re not winning this one fam 😢#DialAnMP #zumavote #NoConfidence #NoConfidenceVote pic.twitter.com/LyOAxrVgr0
— Nwatshinaka (@Nwatshinaka) August 8, 2017
#CountryDuty #NoConfidence #DialAnMP
At lease I tried pic.twitter.com/JEPBpcS1Tz— Muzi (@uMdifafa) August 8, 2017
Sole believes it is unlikely that Zuma will be voted out but says #DialAnMP is “an important attempt†in persuading MPs to heed the the call of duty to the country and leave further dents in the division of the ANC.
For Sole, #DialanMP is “nothing else but putting the country first.â€
