Connect with us
Advertisement

Nigeria News

Parliament To Vote On South Africa President, Ramaphosa’s Impeachment Tuesday

Published

on

Advertisement

South African parliament is expected to meet on Tuesday to vote on the possible impeachment of the country’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa.

The lawmakers reached this decision after President Ramaphosa insisted that he would not resign from office.

The South Africa President last week was alleged to have acted illegally in covering up a burglary at his farm in a report released by the parliament last week.

He has been accused of covering the burglary of more than half a million dollars in cash from his farm in northeastern South Africa.

Advertisement

The African National Congress (ANC) is expected to meet today to discuss the fate of the President. Despite division in the party, Ramaphosa seems to have majority backing.

There was pressure last week for the President to resign from office or be forced out of his seat.

Ramaphosa on Sunday looked not worried about the development as he addressed newsmen outside a conference centre where some ANC delegates were already discussing the case against him.

Advertisement

He noted that he had been excluded from the meeting, adding that it was best for him not to take part in the meeting.

A former spy boss in June had filed a complaint with the police alleging that Ramaphosa had hidden the February 2020 burglary from the authorities.

According to the spy boss, Ramaphosa organised for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed into silence.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Ramaphosa said a vast sum of cash stashed at the farm was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman. A police inquiry is ongoing, but he has not so far been charged with any crime.

While the South Africa President insists that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, his explanations did not convince the parliamentary panel, which consists of three lawyers who were appointed by parliament.

The ANC’s highest body, the National Executive Committee, would meet today to discuss the matter.

The report will be submitted to the parliament to be on examined on Tuesday and there will be a vote on whether to launch an impeachment process against the president.

Ramaphosa’s spokesman on Saturday said the president would challenge the parliamentary report in court.

Vincent Magwenya said, “President Ramaphosa is not resigning based on a flawed report, neither is he stepping aside.

“It is in the long-term interest of our constitutional democracy, well beyond the Ramaphosa presidency, that such a clearly flawed report is challenged, especially when it’s being used as a point of reference to remove a sitting head of state.”

It would take a two-thirds majority to remove the president from office.