- Everything indicates that Cyril Ramaphosa will resign as state president in the next few hours.
- Ramaphosa is also expected to step down as ANC leader and withdraw from participating in the elective conference in Nasrec.
- This comes after a Section 89 panel found that Ramaphosa may have contravened the Constitution and anti-corruption laws with his dealings in Phala Phala.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has lost the political support of the ANC and it is “very likely” that he will announce his resignation as head of state in the next few hours.
Ramaphosa will also step down as ANC chairman and drop out of the race for re-election in just over two weeks in Nasrec.
Under the constitution, Vice President David Mabuza, a former Mpumalanga chief minister, will take over as acting president until Parliament votes for a new president.
Whoever is elected as the next ANC president in mid-December is expected to be sworn in as state president in a special session of Parliament at the end of the month.
READ | Phala Phala: As pressure mounts, Ramaphosa tells allies he’s not opposed to stepping down
The DA has tabled a motion, arguing that Parliament be dissolved and early elections be held next year.
News24 has spoken to a range of politicians and senior officials close to the president’s decision, which is likely to trigger a credibility crisis for South Africa.
A source close to the talks said Ramaphosa did not have to be convinced of the case to resign. The source said Ramaphosa argued that it was in the best interest of the country’s stability for him to resign.
“There is nothing we can do now,” the source said.
Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa’s spokesman, said the president would address the nation “soon.” He said the president was still considering his options.
“The main concern on the president’s mind is the stability of the government and the country.”
Ramaphosa has been left without options after a Section 89 panel, led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, found that he may have violated the Constitution and anti-corruption laws in his dealings with the Phala Phala game farm.
News24 understands that the president’s legal advisers told him that while they considered the Ngcobo report to be “full of inconsistencies, flaws and errors”, the chances of successfully challenging it in court were not guaranteed.
READ | Phala Phala panel finds Ramaphosa ‘may have committed serious violations’, broke anti-corruption laws
“What court will rule that a report by a former Chief Justice is unreasonable?” said a source.
Ramaphosa also does not want to go through a “public trial” in Parliament, in an impeachment hearing, while he was the one who suspended Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the Public Protector, to face a similar process.
Ramaphosa is a billionaire who built his fortune outside of politics before returning to the ANC fold as a deputy to former president Jacob Zuma in 2012.
He has served as the country’s vice president and president for a decade and oversaw the country’s “reform” agenda to restore state-owned institutions and enterprises that were looted during the so-called “lost decade” under Zuma.
Some of his greatest achievements have been restoring the credibility of the National Prosecutor’s Office, which has been pushing for arrests and prosecutions for state capture, and empowering the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) with the ability to recover millions of taxpayer money. lost to corruption.
But Ramaphosa himself has been mired in a credibility crisis ever since the country’s former spy chief, Arthur Fraser, opened a criminal case against the president over a theft of millions of rand that occurred at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm last month. beginning of 2020.
Ramaphosa was accused of covering up the origin of the money, allegedly hidden in furniture, and of thwarting a proper police investigation into the case.
Ngcobo’s report confirmed the suspicions and found that Ramaphosa had to answer the case for possible impeachment.
READ | Ramaphosa in crisis: ANC leaders to meet over president’s future as enemies, opposition demands resignation
Ramaphosa had limited options, which he discussed with political and legal advisers starting Wednesday night.
News24 understands that his decision was mainly influenced by the lack of political support he has suffered in the ANC since the publication of the report.
The president has apparently lost support in the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) over the last 18 hours after the release of the independent panel’s report.
This follows a marked sea change of late, with growing frustration among supporters over the president’s lack of urgency in taking the fight to his political enemies.
Some Ramaphosa-aligned activists in the NEC and in government have increasingly expressed disappointment, arguing that the hard work that went into securing his victory in the 2017 ANC leadership contest and Zuma’s subsequent ouster is coming undone. quickly.
READ | pieter du toit | Stunning Ramaphosa coup leaves government, ANC reeling and SA in crisis
The feeling for quite some time has been that Ramaphosa is not doing enough to counter his opponents, leaving his followers exposed and in the lurch.
On Thursday morning, it became clear that he had lost significant support in the NEC, with former staunch supporters arguing that he should resign. Some lamented his unwillingness to fight and be more forceful.
The most likely scenario was that Mabuza would step into Ramaphosa’s place until the ANC chose a new leader in Nasrec.
Currently, only Ramaphosa and former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who is implicated in the Digital Vibes corruption scandal, are running for party chairman. However, new candidates may be nominated from the conference floor, if they receive 25% or more of the support of the delegates.
A source said Ramaphosa admitted he had lost support in the ANC NEC and would likely be “bruised” when it meets on Thursday night.
“If you count the numbers, there are only about a dozen people who will fight for the president,” the party source said.
A third source said Ramaphosa’s impending resignation was aimed at “saving his legacy”.
A Ramaphosa associate, who is involved in negotiations with the president, says there is a strong belief that the process must be managed responsibly.
News24 was told that those aligned with the president, but who have now accepted their fate, believe that the gains made over the past four years in cleaning up government will not be reversed.
