South Africa: Ramaphosa faces parliament vote on graft report

December 13, 2022 Elwin Mandowa

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South Africa’s parliament will hold a special sitting on Tuesday to debate a corruption report that concluded that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have broken his oath of office.

The report was put together by a panel of legal experts. The case relates to the Phala Phala farm scandal, in which the president is accused of a cover-up when the theft of foreign currency at his private game farm took place back in 2020.

MPs would now determine the fate of the president who refused to resign on the back of the panel report.

Evidence of potential misconduct after allegations that he concealed the theft of foreign currency from his game farm has fuelled calls for him to step down.

The MPs would vote on whether he should be impeached or otherwise. Mr Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

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The governing ANC party has instructed its 230 lawmakers, including those known to be against the president, to reject the report because its findings have been challenged in court.

But some could break ranks and side with opposition parties for impeachment proceedings to get under way.

If Mr Ramaphosa survives the encounter in parliament, he is likely to be re-elected as ANC president at the party’s elective conference which starts on Friday.