Mbeki urges ANC to ‘deal’ with Ramaphosa over Phala Phala saga

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Former president Thabo Mbeki says the ANC must deal with the looming reality that President Cyril Ramaphosa may face impeachment over the Phala Phala saga.
Mbeki says the ANC must decide what type of leaders it wants to elect at the December elective conference.
The former president has bemoaned the state of the ANC, saying leaders seeking election do not qualify to lead the party.

Former president Thabo Mbeki says the ANC has to decide what must happen if a parliamentary process finds that President Cyril Ramaphosa has a case to answer regarding the Phala Phala saga.

According to Mbeki, the ANC’s top leaders should meet to discuss whether or not Ramaphosa should step aside if the independent panel investigating the Phala Phala saga finds that he has a prima facie case to answer. The panel began its work on Wednesday.

In a brutally frank address at the annual general meeting of the Strategic Dialogue Group (SDG) on Saturday, the former president said the ANC had to consider what type of leaders it wanted to elect at its December conference.

He said the ANC was being led by criminals. “When you talk renewal of the ANC, you’re carrying too much baggage of wrong people. You have to have the courage to face that you have a renewed ANC led by criminals,” he said.

Mbeki said the ANC had to reflect on the accusations hanging over Ramaphosa’s head.

Mbeki noted:

Our president is under a lot of pressure. I am talking about President Ramaphosa… around this matter of Phala Phala farm. There are criminal investigations going on. Parliament has its own processes. The Reserve Bank has done what it wants to do… What relevance does that all have to the leadership of the ANC that will come out of Nasrec at the end of the year, or is it entirely irrelevant?

He said the independent panel, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, was tasked with advising the National Assembly on whether Ramaphosa had a case to answer.

“As comrades know, they have been given 30 days to do that. The 30 days will run out sometime in the month of November. What happens if they say he has got a case to answer? What do we do?” Mbeki asked.

He said the ANC could not shy away from the inevitable conversation around Ramaphosa’s fate.

“The leadership of the ANC cannot avoid meeting to discuss that in the light of that, what do we do. Do we say to the president he must step aside, or do we say let it continue through the parliamentary process? What is the impact of that in the public mind?” Mbeki asked.

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appointed the Section 89 inquiry panel following a motion by ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula for Ramaphosa’s removal on the grounds of “a serious violation of the Constitution or the law and serious misconduct”.

According to documents, the first charge to be investigated is the alleged violation of Section 96 (2)(a), read with Section 83 (b) of the Constitution.

The Phala Phala saga became a burning issue in June after ex-spy boss Arthur Fraser opened a kidnapping and money laundering case against Ramaphosa, head of the Presidential Protection Unit Major General Wally Rhoode, and Crime Intelligence members for allegedly concealing a February 2020 burglary at the president’s Phala Phala farm.

According to Fraser’s affidavit, Ramaphosa had at least $4 million in cash stashed in a couch at the game farm, and played a part in covering up the theft, following an allegedly illegal investigation.

The second charge against Ramaphosa alleged that he violated Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004.

According to Zungula, Ramaphosa failed to report the theft on his farm to any police officer as required by law.

The panel will also have to determine whether Ramaphosa violated the Constitution by exposing himself to the risk of a conflict between his official responsibilities and private interests.

News24 reported that lawmakers would be given six days to submit evidence to the independent panel probing the Phala Phala allegations against Ramaphosa.

On the other hand, Ramaphosa would be given 10 days to provide written responses to information the panel received.

In his address on Saturday, Mbeki said the outcome of the independent panel would have an effect on the public’s perception of the ANC.

According to him, the party needs to reflect deeply on what type of leaders will emerge from the December conference.

Mbeki said:

At what point does anyone in the movement engage these two issues: what policy outcome do we want from Nasrec at the end of the year, and what leadership outcome do we want from Nasrec at the end of the year?

Mbeki lambasted the type of leaders who were seeking election at the elective conference.

“There are comrades in the NEC who don’t qualify to be in the NEC, much less in government but want to be elected… The country is watching. The population is watching,” he said.

He questioned whether the ANC’s December conference would produce leaders who the public would be able to trust.