JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday it was up to the governing party’s national executive to decide his future in the face of allegations of misconduct against him, a day after his spokesman said he would not resign.
Ramaphosa, who said he would attend an executive committee meeting scheduled for Monday, is fighting for his political survival after a panel of experts found he may have violated his oath of office.
Their inquiries relate to allegations that large sums of foreign currency were hidden at Ramaphosa’s private game farm and he failed to report the money missing when it was stolen in 2020.
Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes. He has said the money stolen was the proceeds from the sale of buffaloes and far less than the millions of dollars alleged when the theft came to light in June.
The media has dubbed the affair “Farmgate.
The president’s allies have rallied around him, after two cabinet ministers considered rivals called for him to quit. On Saturday his spokesman said the panel’s findings would be challenged.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) party’s National Working Committee (NWC) was meeting in Johannesburg on Sunday to discuss the panel’s report.
Ramaphosa said he would not take part in those discussions as it was best “when the matter … affects a person personally that it should be discussed in their absence.”
“It is up to the National Executive Committee [NEC], to which I am accountable, to take whatever decision [it deems fit].”
ANC spokesman Pule Mabe told reporters that the NWC would make recommendations to the NEC on Monday ahead of a parliamentary debate on the panel report on Tuesday, but he declined to say what those recommendations would be.
“The expectation is that we will put forward the recommendations of the NWC to the NEC for consideration tomorrow. We are hoping and expect that by the time we go to parliament, there will be one position of the ANC that we’ll convey,” Mabe said.
Source: Voice of America
