Durban - President Cyril Ramaphosa could face impeachment by the National Assembly after Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Friday acceded to the motion by the African Transformation Movement (ATM).
In a letter to the ATM, dated August 5, Mapisa-Nqakula said the party’s motion complied with the Constitution, rules and established practice and that other steps as per the rules would then follow including the appointment of an independent panel.
ATM leader Vuyo Zungula welcomed the fact that Mapisa-Nqakula had started the process in terms of Section 89 of the Constitution to remove Ramaphosa for violating the Constitution. The motion to impeach Ramaphosa was in relation to the theft of around $4million at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020 which was concealed from law enforcement.
“Noting that the affidavit of Mr Arthur Fraser … contained a lot of prima facie evidence by way of videos, bank statements and photographs of people with hands tied behind their backs, foreign currency, to corroborate serious allegations of money laundering, tax evasion, bribery, violation of foreign exchange regulations, flouting of immigration laws, the ATM focused (on) only those offences where the evidence has either not been disputed or (is) rather indisputable,” Zungula said.
He said Ramaphosa had violated the Constitution by doing paid work despite being prohibited to do so as a member of the Cabinet, was conflicted between his official duty versus his private interests, and gave an unlawful instruction to the head of the Protection Unit to investigate a burglary instead of instructing him to report the matter at the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) as required by law.
He said Ramaphosa also violated the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act which enjoined everyone to report theft or corruption where the amount exceeded R100000. “People don’t like being held accountable. If you hold public office, you will be held accountable,” he said. EFF leader Julius Malema said there should not be a debate about whether Ramaphosa should resign as head of state. “There shouldn’t be a debate whether Cyril should resign or not, it’s automatic.”
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the function of the independent panel was to conduct a preliminary assessment of the proposed motion, and recommend to the Speaker within 30 days whether sufficient evidence existed to show the president had committed any of the violations specified in the motion.
“The National Assembly must then decide whether or not to proceed with an inquiry. A panel referral, therefore, does not constitute a parliamentary impeachment process, but an assessment of the supplied evidence by legal and constitutional experts to determine if … it is adequate to warrant a further process. Therefore, the president views this as part of due process that is required to settle the matter.”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE