Making headlines: Steenhuisen says ANC will back Zuma in Motion of No Confidence; Timol and Essop were detained illegally and tortured; And, DA shoots down motion of no confidence in Zille

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Steenhuisen says ANC will back Zuma in Motion of No Confidence

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen does not expect his party's motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma to succeed, but expects it to be a turning point.

He told a gathering of young professionals at a Let's Talk Cape Town event yesterday that he believes the ANC will back President Jacob Zuma on the day.

He expected some MPs to break rank. Even if one ANC MP voted for the motion, it would be a "mortal wound" for Zuma, as the false facade of unity in the party would be broken, he said.

ANC MP Makhosi Khoza said she would vote with her conscience and called for a secret ballot. She received death threats for doing so, and for her criticism of the ANC and its leadership.

Timol and Essop were detained illegally and tortured

Apartheid-era police illegally held anti-apartheid activists Ahmed Timol and Salim Essop at John Vorster Square in order to torture them, the High Court in Pretoria heard yesterday.

A private investigator commissioned by Timol's family, Frank Dutton, said that they were held, in his view, illegally in the offices on the 10th floor. One can only come to the conclusion that it was for reasons of torture and it was for reasons of sleep deprivation.

Dutton was testifying at the second sitting of the inquest into Timol’s death, presided over by Judge Billy Mothle.

He said a detention order stated that Timol and Essop had to be kept in the cells on the third floor of John Vorster Square, but this didn't happen.

DA shoots down motion of no confidence in Zille

The DA in the Western Cape legislature closed ranks yesterday to shut down a motion of no confidence in Premier Helen Zille.

ANC MPLs tried their best to convince the provincial House that Zille should be removed following tweets she posted seemingly "praising" aspects of colonialism in March.

ANC MPL Cameron Dugmore led the attack in an animated debate, and tried to highlight the province's "failed record" under Zille's leadership to reverse apartheid spatial planning.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today