Defiant Cyril standing firm over cash scandal
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has defiantly stood his ground and said he will not be resigning, despite the threat of impeachment over a scandal following the theft of $US500,000 of cash from his farm.
Ramaphosa’s spokesman said he would fight both politically and judicially.
Pressure mounted last week for Ramaphosa to quit or be forced from office over the burglary of the cash hidden under sofa cushions, which he allegedly covered up.
A three-member parliamentary panel, including a former chief justice of the country’s highest court, said Ramaphosa “may have committed” acts contrary to the law and the constitution, paving the way for impeachment.
“President Ramaphosa is not resigning based on a flawed report, neither is he stepping aside,” his spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.
Ramaphosa has been under fire since June, when a former spy boss filed a complaint with the police alleging the president had hidden a 2020 burglary at his farm in northeastern South Africa.
He allegedly organised for the burglars to be kidnapped and bribed into silence. Ramaphosa, head of the African National Congress ruling party, has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged.
Ramaphosa contests elections for the ANC presidency on December 16, a position that also holds the key to staying on as national president.
Magwenya said the party has given Ramaphosa an “unequivocal message” to run for a second term. “The president has with humility and with great care and commitment accepted that call to continue being of service to his organisation the ANC and to the people of South Africa.”
The ANC’S National Executive Committee is meeting today to discuss the issue, while the report will be examined by parliament on Tuesday which could open the way to a vote on impeachment.
Magwenya also said the president would challenge the parliamentary report in court.
The head of South Africa’s Anglican Church warned the country could fall “into anarchy” if Ramaphosa resigned.
Ramaphosa said the cash at the farm was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman. But the report questioned why the identity of the businessman, Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim, could not be verified and why the buffaloes remained on Ramaphosa’s estate. “There are serious doubts as to whether the stolen foreign currency actually came from their sale,” the report said.