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South African Politics in Turmoil - Ramaphosa Avoids Impeachment

Parliament has voted not to adopt a report which would have led to the impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa. The vote which was supposed to have taken place on December 6, 2022 was postponed to December 13, 2022.

The two decision-making bodies of South Africa's ruling African National Congress decided to support President Cyril Ramaphosa and reject the findings of the damaging report, Scrolla writes. First the National Working Committee and then the National Executive committee rallied behind their leader. 

At the time, political comentator Richard Calland said that a potential impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa is a "historic moment" for the country.

The three-person panel found that the president might have breached the constitution and engaged in corrupt activities. The panel, led by Justice Sandile Ngcobo, found the president has a case to answer in the cover up of a robbery at his private farm, Phala Phala, in February 2020. It is alleged that a large amount of foreign currency (U.S. dollars) was stashed in a sofa for over a month and not declared to the South African Reserve Bank.

The Phala Phala scandal has, according to Thabo Leshilo of The Conversation, tarnished Ramaphosa's reputation as an anti-corruption champion. The robbery was first brought to light in June by Arthur Fraser, the country's former head of the State Security Agency and a close ally of South Africa's disgraced former president, Jacob Zuma, Deutsche Welle reports.

The ruling African National Congress is due to hold an elective conference from December 16 to 20, 2022. According to ANC rules, anyone charged with corruption or other crimes must step aside while criminal investigations take place.

GCIS / Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks to the press while on a state visit to the United Kingdom in November 2022.

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