Speaker of the South African Parliament, Baleka Mbete, has cut short her participation at the International Parliamentary Union in Bangladesh, to address pressing political developments in the country.

Foremost among the issues are opposition parties’ request for a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma to be tabled before the Assembly this week.

This follows a controversial cabinet reshuffle carried out by the President, where a well-loved Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan was removed.

Although the parliament is on recess, but the opposition parties want an urgent sitting to debate the motion.

Ms Mbete, who is also the Chairperson of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), told reporters at the OR Tambo Airport on Sunday that there will be consultations from Tuesday before a date can be set.

Mr Gordhan was sacked alongside 14 other members of the cabinet, following an urgent meeting of the ANC on Thursday night.

Reacting to his sack, the former Finance Minister described an intelligence report used by President Zuma as justification as ‘absolute nonsense’.