As the storm gathers over the Phala Phala report, the Presidency has cancelled two important engagements scheduled for Thursday morning as opposition parties intensify their calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign.
Ramaphosa has written to the National Council of Provinces to request postponement of his appearance in the afternoon to answer questions related to what government is doing to deal with the country’s loadshedding crisis.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya was scheduled to host his weekly briefing on the morning of Thursday but had to postpone in the aftermath of the release of the section 89 report by the independent panel of experts.
The panel, led by retired former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo concluded that Ramaphosa may have seriously violated the Constitution in relation to his handling of the theft that occurred at his Phala Phala farm in February 2020.
The postponement of the two events comes as it emerged that the ruling party will hold a special meeting of its national executive committee on Thursday night to discuss the panel report.
Chairperson of the NCOP said he had acceded to the deferment of Ramaphosa’s oral questions session to allow the president to consider the Phala Phala report.
“The letter (from Ramaphosa) noted that the section 89 independent panel process has been unprecedented in the life of South Africa’s constitutional democracy and that the recommendations of the panel and their implications for the stability of the country required that the president take the time to carefully consider the contents of the report and the next course of action to be taken,” Masondo said, adding that a new date will be determined in due course by the council’s programme committee.
This comes as pressure mounted on Ramphosa to resign as the National Assembly prepared to hold a debate on the report scheduled for Tuesday December 6.
The EFF said it would write to National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to request that the possible vote on the report be secret.
“The EFF calls for Cyril Ramaphosa to step down as the President of South Africa and avoid further putting South Africa in the same ranks of a criminal underworld which launders money, tortures human beings and conceals crimes through thuggery and deceit. If Ramaphosa does not step down, the EFF will expose both him and the ANC, as criminals who have no regard for the domestic and international laws, and completely disrespect the Constitution,” the party said in a statement.
The DA said the report was a defining moment for the country’s constitutional democracy. The official opposition was set to announce its next cause of action on Thursday.
“The panel makes some serious findings against the president, chief among them being that he may have violated the constitution. These are grounds for impeachment proceedings in Parliament. This is exactly why our focus must now be on the Parliamentary process,” the party said.
“While a vote on whether to institute impeachment proceedings against the president requires a 50% majority, we do hope that the ANC in Parliament will put party interests aside and abide by the constitutional obligation we all have,” the party added.
On Wednesday, the panel found that there is a prima facie case for Ramaphosa to answer, conclusing that he may have committed serious violations of some sections of the Constitution including the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) by acting in a manner that is inconsistent with his office.
Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct “by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business.”
The panel further found that there was prima facie evidence that more than $800 000 was stolen during the burglary at Phala Phala, which was stashed in a sofa and not reported to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) as required by the country’s laws regulating foreign currency.
Ramaphosa abused his position as the president of the country by seeking assistance from his Namibian counterparts in the apprehension of the suspects.
“Quite apart from this, the President’s private residence is broken into and more than half a million US dollars in cash is stolen. The crime is not reported to the SAPS for investigation in the normal course. Nor is it reported under section 34(1) of PRECCA. Instead, a team led by the President’s Head of Presidential Protection Unit is put up. Included in the team is an ex-SAPS member whose particular expertise is not known other than that he is a social worker,” Ngcobo said in the report.
“This team surreptitiously conducts its investigation and requests the Namibian Police officials to handle the matter “with discretion” because of its “sensitivity” and “the envisaged fall out it will create in South Africa.” The president gets involved in the investigation by seeking “assistance in apprehending the concerned suspect” from the president of Namibia (Hage Geingob). All of this occur amid accusations of torture and bribery of the suspects to by their silence. And if these accusations are established, they make the violations and the misconduct involved in the charges, very serious indeed,” he added.
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