ANC MP Derek Hanekom says the ANC cannot simply decree against the consciences of its MPs, adding that the vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma next week will be difficult to vote against, Business Day reported on Friday.
While Hanekom would not say how he would vote next week, he told reporters at Daily Maverick's The Gathering event in Cape Town on Thursday that it was difficult to vote against the last vote of no confidence in the president.
"Many of us found the last vote of no confidence very hard to vote against. We did what we thought was the right thing. Many months later, there is another vote of no confidence. Now, it is much more difficult to vote against it," he reportedly said.
ANC MP and former finance minister Pravin Gordhan told the event that it was possible that more than R100billion had been stolen by the Guptas.
Calls for MPs to vote with their consciences were silenced by the ANC, which says its MPs must toe the party line. Speaker Baleka Mbete is yet to announce whether she will allow the vote to take place with a secret ballot.
Mbete was quoted this week as saying South Africans should trust her, as she would "do the right thing" over the vote.
According to Business Day, Hanekom said more than 50% of ANC MPs were worried about state capture and wanted action to be taken.
He reportedly said:
"It would appear that some people are captured, but many good people in Parliament are not captured and have political consciousness. You cannot make a decree against consciousness or instruct members to stop being conscious.
"We won't say now what we will or won't do. It might be inappropriate. But it's a minority of people who are bringing the ANC into disgrace and destroying its credibility and SA. The few of us who are hated by many are loved by many more in the country and the ANC."