This is in fact the best possible outcome for the opposition.
1.As you say, they have shown up the ANC parliamentary leadership as voting for the continuation of the looting, and voting against the poor. Therefore the ANC does not care about the poor. 
2.Getting rid of Zuma now would mean the possibility of Cyril becoming president, hugely minimising the ANC loss of votes in 2019.
3.In order to keep himself (the king) out of jail, he has to sacrifice the ANC (the mid-level pieces) by being forced to get NDZ in in December by manipulating the branches in the way he knows best, and with NDZ in power, the ANC will take a massive hit in 2019.  Zuma does not care a fig about the ANC or the poor.
If I were more cynical, I would say that the DA had a very careful look at the numbers, milked the Monoco speeches for all they were worth, and got the result they wanted.

As usual, Richard, a sparkling article.