The fate of the motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa now lies with the programming committee, which will discuss how to process it after political parties could not reach an agreement on Wednesday.
This was after African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula called for the Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, to shelve the motion pending a court application.
Mapisa-Nqakula said it was out of her hands and referred the matter to the programming committee for a decision today.
This followed a day of drama with points of order and interjections as MPs debated and argued over who was right and wrong.
Zungula said it would be wrong for Parliament to proceed with the motion of no confidence debate because the matter was pending.
ANC MPs said the issue of the motion was not sub judice.
They argued that Mapisa-Nqakula had also received legal advice that it was not sub judice.
IFP chief whip Narend Singh proposed that it be dealt with by the programming committee.
His counterpart in the UDM, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, said he had raised this issue last week in the programming committee meeting and was told that the Speaker would take a decision.
He said the Speaker was now referring the issue back to the programming committee.
The matter has been dragging on for two years since the ATM first tabled it in February 2020 and it was later taken to court.
The ATM went to the Western Cape High Court on Monday on an urgent basis, calling for a secret ballot, but the court ruled that its application was not urgent.