The embattled President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa who is embroiled in scandal and under threat of impeachment, has vowed not to resign, stating that it was up to the leading executives of his political party to decide his fate.
Ramaphosa’s remarks come one day after his spokesperson said the embattled president would not resign.
While speaking ahead of a meeting of his African National Congress (ANC) party, the President said he would not take part in any ANC meetings, saying when a matter “affects a person personally that it should be discussed in their absence.”
He added that “It is up to the National Executive Committee [of the ANC], to which I am accountable, to take whatever decision it deems fit”.
A spokesperson for the ANC reportedly told reporters that the party would make recommendations regarding the president’s fate, though did not shed light on what those recommendations might be.
It could be recalled that the president of South Africa since 2018, Ramaphosa first became embroiled in controversy earlier this year after allegations that he hid a theft of $4 million from his personal animal farm in 2020. Ramaphosa later admitted the money had been stolen, but said the figure was $580,000, not $4 million as alleged.
The South Africa’s number one man said the money was originally obtained from the sale of buffalo on his farm, but an independent panel of legal experts formed to investigate the allegations have cast doubt on his story.
Reports have it that even as he awaits his fate, the panel has already said that Ramaphosa’s actions may be grounds for impeachment, and that he may have “committed serious misconduct and constitutional violations.”
“President Ramaphosa is not resigning based on a flawed report, neither is he stepping aside,” his spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.
“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,” he said.
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