Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, got a lifeline on Monday from the top executives of his African National Congress (ANC), who opted to reject a report that claimed Ramaphosa had neglected his constitutional duty.
Paul Mashatile, the ANC’s spokesman and treasurer general, announced to the media on Monday evening that the National Executive Committee (NEC), which had been deliberating all day, had chosen to reject the report.
On Monday morning, Ramaphosa submitted documents to the Constitutional Court asking it to reconsider and reject the Section 89 panel’s finding that he might have broken the Constitution.
Ramaphosa may have cracked the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act and involved in serious misconduct by “exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business,” according to the report, which found sufficient evidence for this claim.
The incident at Ramaphosa’s private game farm, Phala Phala, made headlines earlier this year after it was claimed that burglars stole an undisclosed sum of hundreds of thousands of dollars that were allegedly stashed in furniture at the farm.
Ramaphosa is accused of failing to notify the appropriate authorities of the incident and going months without explaining where the money came from before telling the inquiry that it came from the sale of animals.
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The report of the panel, which was headed by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, was handed to the Speaker of the National Assembly last week, clearing the way for possible impeachment action against Ramaphosa.
“The report has been taken on review by the president so should Parliament meet tomorrow to deliberate on the report and adopt it, the ANC MPs will vote against it, because as you are aware, that report will set other processes in motion, like impeachments; and we are not supporting the process that will lead to the impeachment of the president,” Mashatile said.
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