The EFF has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to step aside to allow for a fair investigation into the allegations levelled against him by former spy boss Arthur Fraser last week.
EFF leader Julius Malema told a media briefing on Tuesday: “The EFF calls for Ramaphosa to step aside with immediate effect, because no police will investigate a sitting president who has violated laws in order to avoid justice.
“Ramaphosa has established himself as an individual who will go to great lengths to avoid accountability, and his continued stay as a president while this matter is being investigated will jeorpadise this case.”
Malema said the EFF has set up a legal team to probe Ramaphosa’s removal within the framework of the law. Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi will lead the team looking into the constitutional provisions to have Ramaphosa step aside.
“The integrity of our nation is at stake, and the EFF will use all of its power to ensure that Ramaphosa pays for the crimes that he has committed in this country.”
According to Malema, Ramaphosa has portrayed himself as an “anti-corruption crusader” who has the power and is entitled to arrest and imprison people who are opposed to him as “an individual and to the white capitalist establishment”.
“No one and absolutely no one in South Africa should stand by and watch when a head of state undermines the rule of law and does as he wishes because he believes he is protected by the system.”
Malema alleged that the president colluded with Heige Geingob, the president of Namibia, to conceal the crimes that took place at his Phala Phala farm in 2019.
“We are even more concerned with the collaboration between Ramaphosa and the president of Namibia, Heige Geingob, which saw Ramaphosa unleash his personal thugs to track down suspects in Namibia after the robbery on his farm, with the aid of the Namibian president.
“The president of Namibia conspired with Ramaphosa to abduct individuals from his country and aided him in concealing his crimes of money-laundering. This makes Ramaphosa’s actions not only of domestic concern, but of international consequence,” said Malema.
On Monday, the EFF in Namibia said it is evident that there is a corrupt engagement between Ramaphosa and Geingob. The party raised concerns that the duo has violated Namibia’s sovereignty and allowed Ramaphosa’s agents to invade Namibia to abduct suspects involved in serious crimes.
The party called on Geingob to disclose information about his engagement with Ramaphosa on the instruction to conceal the crime, stating that law-enforcement agencies should not be used to conceal criminal activities.
It added that it will use parliamentary processes to find out whether Geingob concealed the crime committed by Namibians, and if so, it will lay charges against him.
On Wednesday last week, former state security agency director-general Fraser opened criminal charges against Ramaphosa at the Rosebank police station. The allegations emanate from the alleged theft of over $4-million (R61.5-million) allegedly concealed at Ramaphosa’s farm.
Fraser said the president was in cahoots with “criminals” who were colluding with his domestic workers. “The president concealed the crime from the South African Police Service and/or South African Revenue Service and thereafter paid the culprits for their silence,” said Fraser.
The Presidency confirmed a robbery took place on Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in February 2020, but denied Fraser’s claim that the president was involved in the missing “millions”.
“The Presidency can confirm that a robbery took place at the president’s farm in Limpopo on or around 9 February 2020 in which proceeds from the sale of game were stolen,” said the Presidency.
“The president was attending an African Union Summit in Addis Ababa at the time the incident occurred. On being advised of the robbery, president Ramaphosa reported the incident to the head of the presidential protection unit of the South African Police Service for investigation.”
The presidential statement stated that Ramaphosa said there was no basis for the claims of criminal conduct levelled against him and that he stands ready to cooperate with any law enforcement investigation of this matter.
“President Ramaphosa remains resolute in leading the fight against corruption, restoring the integrity and capability of public institutions and overcoming the legacy of state capture, and will not be deterred by disinformation campaigns,” said the Presidency.
Ramaphosa faces charges including defeating the ends of justice, kidnapping of suspects, and bribery.
Malema said: “If Ramaphosa refuses to step aside to allow an open and transparent investigations to take place, the EFF will then mobilise many sectors of society to stop recognising him as a president of the republic, and will not permit him to perform any presidential functions.
“We have the capacity to do so and we will do it in defence of the rule of law. We are not factionalists of any political organisation who can be bought with illegal money into silence.”
Also read: Ramaphosa denies criminal involvement in theft at farm
Former spy boss Arthur Fraser lays criminal charges against Ramaphosa
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