They can’t defeat us, they’re imagining things – Zuma

Cape Town – It was a night for victory celebrations as the seemingly Teflon-coated President Jacob Zuma did not disappoint when he spoke to the ANC faithful outside parliament on Tuesday night.

“I have just come to say thank you, to all of you, to those comrades who were in parliament; you came in your numbers to demonstrate that the ANC is there,” said Zuma to loud cheers.

“It is powerful, it’s big, it’s difficult to defeat the ANC. You can try. I’m sure you will remember that today’s vote of no confidence was number eight. Always, they will try,” Zuma said, referring to opposition parties.

“Once again we have that the ANC is the organisation of the people. Now, there is something interesting in these scenarios, the interpretation of some of the things are interesting.

Zuma referred to the ANC being voted in by “an overwhelming majority of the masses of this country”.

“No party has ever received such a number,” Zuma said, adding it was the ANC that represented the country.

He accused the opposition of trying to use “technicalities” in parliament to take over the majority enjoyed by the ANC.

“It’s impossible, they can’t do it.”

The president alleged propaganda was being “pumped” through the media that the ANC was no longer supported by “the people”.

“It is their own imagination, the ANC is supported by the overwhelming majority. They will realise when we win in 2019 in a big numbers once again,” said Zuma to raucous cheers.

“They talk too much, just talking only, the organisation is greater; thank you very much indeed.”

Zuma survived the vote by a relatively narrow margin and between 30 and 40 of his own MPs appeared to have turned against him, either by voting to oust him or abstaining – a first in ANC history.

Zuma survived a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly, but the result indicated that a significant number of ANC MPs broke ranks to support the opposition motion.

Speaker Baleka Mbete announced that 177 MPs voted in favour of the motion and 198 against it. There were nine abstentions.

However, that did not stop him from treating the crowd to his rendition of his regular struggle song Lindela before leaving the ecstatic crowd, which chanted: “Zuma, Zuma, Zuma.”

He will be addressing Women’s Day celebrations tomorrow, which was announced as a show of confidence from the ANC ahead of the vote.