Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that he confronted his deputy, Paul Mashatile, over claims that there was a plot to remove him from office.
Mashatile revealed that he was aware of a conspiracy to remove him from office.
According to City Press, Mashatile refused to name the plotters but said that they wanted him gone by next month.
However, Ramaphosa dismissed these claims, asserting that there was no truth to them.
“I also saw the report… and I had a discussion with the deputy president and I said but what is this?…. and we are going to have another discussion… I immediately said to him, I appointed you, and I am the only person that can disappoint you. There’s just no thought, no plan, no inkling whatsoever that something like that is in the works,” Ramaphosa told journalists on the sidelines of a conference by the ruling ANC on Sunday.
[WATCH] ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa on media reports that Deputy President Paul Mashatile told City Press newspaper there’s a plot to remove him from his post. “I have also seen the report by the City Press and have spoken to the deputy president…”#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/mGPHOiuzgo
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 9, 2023
Mashatile said that efforts were made to block his appointment as deputy president and subsequent attempts to remove him after President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him.
He became the country’s second in command at the beginning of March after his predecessor, David Mabuza, asked to be relieved from his duties early this year.
“I became aware that there were people trying to stop me [from] being appointed at the Union Buildings. In fact, they began plotting last year at the political level. They didn’t want me to become deputy president of the ANC, but the conference elected me,” the report quoted Mashatile as saying.
The deputy president also addressed allegations of corruption and his friendship with businesspeople involved in legal cases, denying any wrongdoing.
According to an exposé by News24, controversial businessmen, including Edwin Sodi, have been financing a lavish lifestyle for Mashatile.
The report revealed that Mashatile lived a life of luxury, living in expensive homes owned by businessmen benefitting from state contracts.
“One of Mashatile’s largest benefactors is Edwin Sodi, the politically connected businessman currently on trial on charges of corruption and fraud linked to a R255-million Free State asbestos eradication tender, together with former Free State premier, Ace Magashule, who was recently expelled from the ANC,” the report said.
But Mashatile said that Parliament and the government have measures in place to prevent state capture and corruption, including lifestyle audits and declaration of interests.
He also condemned the recent incident where his VIP security officers assaulted motorists and supported the police commissioner taking action against them.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/@AfricanSoil
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
