CAPE TOWN, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- A no confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma is an attempt to topple the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday.
The opposition is doing all it can to divide the ANC and their attemp to remove Zuma amouts to a coup, the minister said in a debate on the anti-Zuma no confidence motion.
Zuma's fate hangs on the parliamentarians who would vote later in the day in the motion by secret ballot.
Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete announced her decision on the secret ballot on Monday, the first time for an anti-Zuma no confidence motion to be conducted in secrecy.
Zuma has survived seven no confidence in the past seven years, all conducted by open ballot.
Opposition parties have been pushing for a secret ballot so as to encourage ANC MPs to support the motion.
Mapisa-Nqakula said opposition parties are trying to woo ANC MPs to help them topple the ANC through the no confidence motion.
She said she has the duty to defend the ANC.
Mapisa-Nqakula accused the opposition of using other tactics to remove the ANC.
"Let's go to the general elections," she said, adding that the ANC has received more votes since 1994.
The ANC is the choice of voters which must be respected, the minister said.
"Our task as the ANC is to grow economy and fight crime and corruption, but opposition wants to divide us," she said.
As the debate was going on, hundreds of anti-Zuma protesters were gathering outside Parliament, anxiously waiting for the result of the vote.
Crowds of ANC supporters were also there to show their support for Zuma.
The 400-member Parliament is dominated by ANC MPs.
Toppling Zuma requires 50 of the 249 ANC MPs to support the no-confidence motion.
The ANC has warned that any of its MPs who support the anti-Zuma no confidence motion risk being disciplined by the party, insisting that removing Zuma from office would not be in the best interest of the country.
