Top officials of the African National Congress (ANC) have decided to dismiss a report accusing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of breaching constitutional obligations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly failed to report the incident to the relevant authorities and spent several months without explaining where the money came from. (Photo: Reuters)
by Press Trust of IndiaSouth Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was on Monday put on life support by top officials of his African National Congress (ANC) who decided to dismiss a report that found Ramaphosa had breached his constitutional obligations.
Speaking to the media on Monday evening after a day of deliberations by the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC), spokesman Paul Mashatile, who is also the party’s Treasurer General, said the NEC had decided to reject the report .
Earlier on Monday, Ramaphosa filed papers with the Constitutional Court to review and quash the Section 89 panel’s report, which found it violated the constitution.
an argument
The report found substantial evidence that Ramaphosa may have breached a section of the Prevention of Corruption Act and committed serious misconduct by “exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business”. It is possible
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The incident at Ramaphosa’s private game farm, called Phala Fala, hit the headlines earlier this year when an undisclosed sum of hundreds of thousands of dollars was allegedly hidden in furniture on the farm, which was allegedly stolen by thieves was.
Ramaphosa is said to have failed to report the incident to the relevant authorities and spent several months without telling where the money came from until he told an inquiry that it had come from the sale of animals.
The panel’s report, chaired by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, was submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly last week, paving the way for possible impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa.
“The report has been taken up on review by the President, so should Parliament meet tomorrow to deliberate on the report and adopt it, ANC MPs will vote against it because, as you know, that report will set other processes in motion.” Will establish, like impeachment; And we are not supporting the process by which the President can be impeached.
Last Thursday, South Africa was on edge with expectations that an announcement of Ramaphosa’s resignation from the top post in the country was imminent. But after consultation with stakeholders, a scheduled briefing was cancelled.
Since then, Ramaphosa spoke to the media for the first time on Sunday after recusing himself from the NEC meeting.
let the president stay
Mashatile said the president had not offered to resign nor had the ANC asked him to resign. “But the ANC did not make the decision that the president should step down,” he said. Mashatile said the NEC’s decision was in the best interest of the country.
“Let the Speaker continue with his responsibilities until such time as all those processes require that he cannot continue. There is no ruling that he cannot continue at the moment.
Mashatile said the ANC’s view is that the current crisis will not affect business confidence in South Africa.
“Our view is that the confidence of businesses needs stability. Tomorrow, when you wake up, the markets will know that this country has a President who is in office; things are getting done; and that should provide enough stability,” They said.
Mashatile denied that the ANC was using its majority in parliament to “bulldoze” the report out, but analysts said that unless ANC MPs openly voted against it, the NEC Till then the decision is not disregarded, this situation will remain.
Earlier on Monday, National Assembly Speaker Nosiwewe Mapisa-Nkakula rejected a request by opposition party African Transformation Movement to vote on the report by secret ballot, with opposition parties saying ANC members should be allowed to vote “at their discretion”. will allow. Instructs the ANC to adopt the report.
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