by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – DIRE consequences await President Cyril Ramaphosa, who now faces the bleak prospect of becoming the third democratically elected South African leader to leave office before completing his term.
He is under pressure to resign after the Constitutional Court’s landmark ruling paving the way for his impeachment over the Phala Phala farm scandal, referring to the burglary at his farm in 2020, when vast amounts of undeclared foreign currency, reportedly amounting to US$4 million and allegedly stashed in couches and mattresses, were stolen.
The crime was allegedly swept under the carpet, suspects were reportedly tortured and, bizarrely, later bribed to buy their silence.
In 2022 and 2023, the National Assembly rejected the adoption of a panel report recommending impeachment proceedings, as well as the establishment of an ad hoc committee to investigate the farm theft.
However, the Constitutional Court, sitting in Johannesburg, ruled on Friday that the National Assembly had erred.
This ruling paves the way for the impeachment of Ramaphosa. It is a momentous occasion, coming exactly 30 years after the adoption of the Constitution as the supreme law of the country.
Ramaphosa played a pivotal role in the adoption of the post-apartheid Constitution, acting as a key negotiator and chairperson during the drafting process.
Three decades later, he appears to have fallen foul of the same Constitution.
Following the Phala Phala scandal, Ramaphosa reportedly offered to resign. He ultimately decided to stay and challenge the report, reportedly due to pressure from his African National Congress (ANC) party.
A faction of the ANC is expected to invoke the rule requiring members charged with corruption or serious crimes to voluntarily step aside from party and government activities.
Some anti-Ramaphosa members of the party have previously been forced to resign.
Pressure is now mounting on him to resign and focus on the impending impeachment process.
The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), alongside the African Transformation Movement (ATM), has amplified calls for his resignation.
“The EFF will continue to fight relentlessly until Cyril Ramaphosa is held fully accountable before Parliament, before the law and before the people of South Africa,” the EFF stated.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), the ANC’s largest partner in the Government of National Unity (GNU), had earlier pledged that it would not support the impeachment of the president.
However, it now appears to be adopting a different tone amid growing divisions between the parties.
The DA described the Constitutional Court ruling as a grave moment for Parliament, the Presidency and South Africa’s constitutional democracy.
Geordin Hill-Lewis, leader of the DA, confirmed the party would participate “fully” and “constructively” in the impeachment committee.
“No one should expect the DA to shield wrongdoing,” Hill-Lewis said.
“We will never be party to protecting misconduct, covering up corruption or weakening accountability for political convenience.”
A two-thirds majority would be required to impeach the president.
Should he be impeached, he would lose not only his positions but also future benefits.
Only Nelson Mandela, elected as the country’s first president in 1994, completed his first and only term in 1999.
Thabo Mbeki was “recalled” by the ANC in the middle of his second term in 2008 following allegations of political interference in the corruption prosecution of his political rival, Jacob Zuma, which deepened internal party divisions.
Zuma was elected in 2009 but also left office during his second term after pressure from the ANC following years of corruption scandals and declining public support.
Ramaphosa’s election as president in 2018 was widely seen as offering hope, often framed as a “New Dawn”, but the ANC has since lost its parliamentary majority and been forced into a GNU, while the economy has declined.
The Constitutional Court has not set timeframes for Parliament to begin the impeachment process.
The ANC nonetheless faces the unenviable prospect of heading into the November local government elections with a president overshadowed by controversy.
– CAJ News