South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, will continue to hold his post as he survived a no-confidence motion in the country's parliament, Bloomberg News reported, citing National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete.

Nine lawmakers abstained in what turned out to be a 198-177 vote in favor of Zuma, according to the report.

The South African rand declined as much as 1% against the dollar after the result of the parliamentary vote was announced, according to Bloomberg News. The currency traded at 13.3656 per dollar at 6:44 p.m. in Johannesburg.

The opposition filed the motion in April after Zuma dismissed Pravin Gordhan as finance minister late in March, a move that triggered public protests and prompted two rating agencies to lower South Africa's debt to junk.