Could Ramaphosa’s time as South Africa’s president be numbered? He was the president who went hard and made anti-corruption a main issue. But now he himself is involved in a real robbery story. Next week, South Africa’s parliament will decide on a report that came out last week. The president has held talks with the leadership of the ANC (African National Congress) and an emergency meeting has been held in the party’s central board. The investigation report that came out a week ago contained accusations of possible corruption and money laundering. The question is whether the president has violated the constitution. Behind these fences is the farm of the President of South Africa. The break-in that has caused political upheaval happened in 2020. Photo: AP Break-in that was covered up It is a break-in a little out of the ordinary that could become Cyril Ramaphosa’s path. In June, the country’s former spy chief reported Ramaphosa to the police. The president was accused of covering up a burglary on his large farm Phala Phala, in the northeast of South Africa. The break-in took place in 2020, but must have been kept hidden until this summer, writes the Reuters news agency. According to former spy chief Arthur Fraser, the thieves must have found between 4 and 8 million dollars in cash. Hiding in a sofa. According to Fraser, the money must come from corruption and money laundering. Instead of contacting the police and reporting the case, the president’s head of the bodyguard started his own investigation. And with the help of colleagues in neighboring Namibia, they tracked down those who broke into the farm. The burglars must have been abducted and bribed on orders from the president’s men, so that they would not tell about the money found, according to Fraser. The former spy chief is a known critic of the president and an ally of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who was forced to leave the presidency due to corruption and other illegalities. The press conference after Friday’s ANC meeting. Acting Secretary-General Paul Mashatile (in yellow shirt) is said to be one of those who asked Cyril Ramaphosa not to resign, so as not to cause chaos. Photo: GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP Claims his innocence The president himself claims that he has done nothing wrong and has promised to answer all the accusations in the report. He has also spoken out against the panel behind the report and believes they have gone far beyond their mandate. Ramaphosa wants their report quashed. He admits that there was a break-in at the farm. And that around 580,000 dollars was stolen, but not many millions as the spy chief claims. And, yes, the money was found in a couch, but that was because it was considered the safest place. Ramaphosa claims the “couch money” originates from the sale of buffaloes to a buyer from Sudan. But that these buffaloes are still on Ramaphosa’s farm is one of the points the panel thinks is strange. Ramaphosa’s penchant for breeding buffalo is well known. In 2012, the opposition gave him the nickname “Bøffelen”. The then ANC politician and businessman offered 18 million rand, or about NOK 1 million, for what was supposed to be a prize specimen of a buffalo. Ramaphosa later apologized for the episode, according to the Reuters news agency. He said the overbidder fared badly amid “a sea of poverty”. The president is responsible for choosing to notify the head of the president’s bodyguard instead of the ordinary police. He stubbornly denies that his men arranged it so that the thieves were abducted and paid to keep close. – I reported the break-in and the theft to General Rhoode, as he is responsible for my safety in light of the position I hold. I expected him to do whatever was necessary and take any other necessary steps in furtherance of the information I gave him,” Ramaphosa claims. The Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry Sandile Ngcobo hands over report on President Cyril Ramaphosa to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Sandile Ngcobo. Photo: ESA ALEXANDER / Reuters Two investigations South African media have dubbed the case “Farmgate”. In September, the speaker of the National Assembly, who belongs to the ruling ANC party, appointed a commission of judges to investigate the case. The judges’ conclusions are relatively crushing. They believe Ramaphosa may have broken his presidential oath, in that he is clearly involved in his private affairs while he is president. They describe it as dereliction of duty that he did not report the burglary and the theft of money to the South African police, and that Ramaphosa’s bodyguard asked colleagues in Namibia for help outside official channels. The judges are also skeptical of the claims about where the money comes from. They believe that the circumstances surrounding the case are so serious and the evidence so clear that the National Assembly should consider impeachment proceedings against the president. The police have launched an investigation, but so far no charges have been laid. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and US President Barack Obama 2018. Photo: SIPHIWE SIBEKO / Reuters Emergency meetings in the ANC On Thursday morning, the president was due to meet in the National Assembly’s question time, but the question session was cancelled. On Friday morning, the ANC’s central board was called to an emergency meeting. Many thought Ramaphosa was going to resign then, but that was by no means the case. Reuters writes that the supporters asked him to stay – at least until an orderly transition can be orchestrated. Other ministers – who belong to another wing of the ANC – are said to have asked him to leave. Next Tuesday, parliament will consider the investigation report. This may lead to motions of no confidence being raised. At the same time, it is unlikely that the proposal will get a majority since Ramaphosa’s party has a majority, and a 2/3 majority is needed to start impeachment investigations against the president. The week after that again, the ANC will hold its national meeting. Ramaphosa’s hopes for re-election as party leader and president have been severely weakened, according to South African media. Thus, his hopes of being re-elected in the 2024 election may also be weakened. Nelson Mandela and Cyril Ramaphosa in 1993 during the negotiations on a new constitution for South Africa. Photo: David Brauchli / AP Mandela’s heir Cyril Ramaphosa was for many years considered Nelson Mandela’s preferred heir. When Mandela and other ANC leaders were imprisoned, Ramaphosa was among the young people who took charge and kept the wheels of the ANC moving. Facts about Cyril Ramaphosa Born 17 January 1952. Founded the National Union of Mineworkers in the country. Helped found COSATU, South Africa’s answer to LO. Active in the fight against the racist apartheid regime in the 1970s and 1980s. Led the ANC’s delegation in the negotiations leading up to the first free elections in South Africa in 1994. Left politics in 1997, after losing the battle for power in the ANC against Thabo Mbeki. Bet on a career in business that made him one of South Africa’s richest men. Was appointed South African Deputy President in 2014 and leader of the ANC in December 2017. Was installed as the country’s President in February 2018 when then President Jacob Zuma resigned after being ousted by the ANC leadership. When Mandela was released from Robben Island, Ramaphosa was by Mandela’s side. The same when Mandela negotiated with the then president Frederik de Klerk, when South Africa was to go from white minority rule to democratically elected majority rule. South Africa’s last white president thought the black lawyer and union leader was one of the best negotiators he had met. A former president, a former president and a future president pictured together in 1996. Former Nelson Mandela, Cyril Ramaphosa and Frederik de Klerk. Photo: Sasa Kralj / AP Mandela himself described Ramaphosa as “one of the most gifted leaders of the new generation”. But when Mandela’s successor was to be chosen, Cyril Ramaphosa lost to Thabo Mbeki. He left politics and ventured as a businessman. He ended up as one of the country’s richest, with large holdings in McDonalds and Coca-Cola, among others. In 2014, he was back in politics, as vice president. Four years later, he took over as president, after the scandal-ridden Jacob Zuma was forced to resign. Cyril Ramaphosa promised to clean up corruption and other illegalities, which characterized Zuma’s rule. Therefore, the fall could be big for the man who was called Mandela’s “golden boy”. The corruption case is also not good news for Mandela’s party ANC, which badly needs to build trust among the people of South Africa.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in tough weather after burglary scandal – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
