A mysterious robbery can bring Ramaphosa down

The ruling African National Congress called a crisis meeting on Thursday.

Cyril Ramaphosa may have committed “grave breaches” of the country’s constitution and corruption laws, according to an independent commission commissioned by Parliament to look into reports of the break-in at the president’s home.

The commission’s findings rocked the earth under Ramaphosa. The demands for resignation come from the opposition as well as from within the party itself.

The president could become the third to be forced out of office under the ruling post-apartheid African National Congress. The party council meets at 6 p.m. Swedish time, according to the information given to France Press.

under a sofa cushion?

In June, the former South African intelligence chief came out and accused Cyril Ramaphosa of covering up a robbery that took place in 2020 at his farm in Vala Vala, located north of Pretoria.

Rather than report it to the police, he chose, according to the charges, to kidnap the robbers and bribe them to shut them up about the whole thing.

Ramaphosa categorically denies this. He said the thieves stole the equivalent of six million kroner in cash, which was hidden under sofa cushions in the courtyard. These, he said, came from a Sudanese national who bought buffaloes raised on the farm.

Initially, the money was put in a safe, says Ramaphosa. According to him, management at the farm later decided that it was safer to put the money under a sofa cushion.

Investigators want to clarify where the money came from, why it was not reported in any way and why the theft was never reported. They also suspect a conflict of interest.

Resignation or dismissal

– The report speaks for itself, says John Steinhausen, who leads the largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.

It is likely that President Ramaphosa has violated a number of constitutional regulations and needs to be held accountable. His actions will have to be impeached and he will have to give much better and more reasonable explanations than we have received so far.

The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party believes that Ramaphosa should resign immediately.

Critics and former opponents within the ANC are also raising their voices. Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who fell out with Ramaphosa over the presidency in 2017, also called for his resignation.

He wants to be re-elected

The idea was for Cyril Ramaphosa to answer questions before Parliament on Thursday, but he ultimately scrapped it. His staff advises that under the circumstances he needs to take his time thinking about his next move.

Ramaphosa is seeking re-election as party leader at the ANC’s conference in a few weeks. In the long run, he could be re-elected as president.

He took power in the party and the country in 2018, after Jacob Zuma was prosecuted four times before his party colleagues forced him to resign. Ten years ago, President Thabo Mbeki was robbed by the ANC as a result of internal power struggles.

On December 6, the South African Parliament will consider the next step. To initiate impeachment proceedings, a simple majority in the House of Representatives is required, but to impeach the President, in a crucial step, a two-thirds majority would be needed.