Johannesburg – South Africa’s ruling ANC party rallied around embattled President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, on the eve of a keenly watched parliamentary vote that could lead to his impeachment.
In an eventful day, Ramaphosa, who has been under heavy political pressure, mounted an 11th-hour legal bid to have a damning report on an alleged cover-up of a cash robbery at his farm annulled.
Top African National Congress leaders who had met to discuss his future vowed to stand by the president and oppose any motion seeking to remove him.
“Should parliament proceed tomorrow, the ANC will not support that vote,” ANC interim secretary-general Paul Mashatile told reporters after day-long talks.
Mashatile said the decision to vote “against the adoption of the report” was reached after the ANC’s National Executive Committee “fully and frankly” debated it.
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Earlier Monday, Ramaphosa filed a petition to the Constitutional Court seeking to have the investigative report “reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside”, according to papers made available to the media by his spokesman.
Parliament is scheduled on Tuesday to debate the report submitted last week by an independent panel which found that Ramaphosa “may have committed” serious violations and misconduct.
The parliament sitting is a step that could lead to a vote on forcing Ramaphosa from office.
To initiate an impeachment vote would require a simple majority in the National Assembly, where the ANC has 230 out of 400 seats. The impeachment vote itself would need a two-thirds majority to succeed.
In papers filed to the Constitutional Court Ramaphosa petitioned to have the report “reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside” and that “any steps taken by the National Assembly pursuant to the report are equally unlawful and invalid.”
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The latest developments mean “the president continues with his duties as president of the ANC and the republic,” said Mashatile.
Ramaphosa will Tuesday be in Cape Town, where parliament is based, but will deliver a keynote address at the World Science Forum, which will be attended by hundreds of delegates.
The president has insisted he would not resign after the special panel’s report, but his political future remains uncertain. He briefly attended the ANC meeting which discussed the crisis.
He left shortly afterwards, smiling and waving to the media, having recused himself from the meeting, in line with standard practice for a person under discussion.
A small group of supporters and anti-Ramaphosa demonstrators gathered outside the meeting in the Johannesburg area of Nasrec.
Forged by Nelson Mandela into the weapon that led the fight against apartheid, the ANC has been deeply divided by the affair, but after a pendulum swing a majority now seems to be backing Ramaphosa.
‘Phala Phala’
The scandal has become known as the Phala Phala affair, named after Ramaphosa’s farm in the northeast of the country.
It began in June, when South Africa’s former spy boss filed a complaint with the police alleging that Ramaphosa had concealed the theft of a huge haul of cash from the estate.
He accused the president of having organised for the burglars to be kidnapped and bribed into silence. Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing.
He said the cash – more than half a million dollars, stashed beneath sofa cushions – was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman.
But his explanations did not convince the independent panel, which raised questions about the source of the cash.
A police inquiry is ongoing, but he has not so far been charged with any crime.
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The scandal comes at the worst possible time for Ramaphosa.
On December 16, he will contest elections for the ANC presidency — a position that also holds the key to staying on as the nation’s leader.
A former mine union president who made a fortune in business in the post-apartheid era, Ramaphosa came to office in 2018 riding on a graft-free image after the corruption-tainted presidency of Jacob Zuma.
The second-largest opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said it was “disgusted and appalled by the decision of the rogue president”, calling Ramaphosa a “gangster” to challenge the report.
But the ANC’s overwhelming majority in the National Assembly means that it is not even certain that parliament will vote to launch the removal procedure.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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