By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The ANC national working committee (NWC) has resolved that the ANC MPs should oppose the adoption of the Section 89 panel report that found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution.
The meeting heard that the report was flawed in law and could not warrant the removal of the president.
The NWC meeting convened at Nasrec on Sunday afternoon to discuss the report and if Ramaphosa should step down from his position.
The NWC would recommend to the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) on Monday that ANC MPs should not vote in favour of the report during a debate in Parliament on the matter on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa will be allowed at the national executive committee (NEC) on Monday to be present after NWC has agreed that he must be recused from attending its meeting.
The NWC meeting heard that Ramaphosa had the right to appeal the report that found he may have violated the Constitution and anti-corruption laws related to his Phala Phala dealings.
Ramaphosa’s lawyer meanwhile has confirmed that he will seek to challenge, in the Constitutional Court.
Ramaphosa’s attorney, Peter Harris, issued a brief statement on Sunday: “We received instructions some days ago from the president to take the panel’s report and recommendations contained therein on review to the Constitutional Court. Papers will be filed shortly.”
The panel, headed by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, was wholly unconvinced by Ramaphosa’s account of the theft of some US$580 000 from a couch in a room on his Phala Phala farm in February 2020 – and did not accept his claims that the money had been the proceeds of a buffalo sale.
Among other things, the panel found that the information presented to it established, “prima facie, the money that was stolen was probably more than US$ 580 000, and that there was “a substantial doubt about the legitimacy of the source of the currency that was stolen”.
“This is a very serious matter, which, if established, renders violation of section 96 of the Constitution and [the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act], a serious violation, and a serious misconduct,” it said.
In other words, the panel has effectively suggested that the US$580 000 stolen from Phala Phala may be the proceeds of crime – a preliminary finding that fundamentally contradicts Ramaphosa’s continued assertions that he did nothing wrong.
Ramaphosa’s allies argued that while they believed the report was flawed, they did not say Ramaphosa should not be held accountable on the matter.
Insiders said that Ramaphosa only came under attack from his known opponent Tony Yengeni while Bathabile Dlamini called for independent legal advice on the matter. That was shot down.
Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is said to have told the meeting that she believed Ramaphosa should “do the right thing”.
At the end, the meeting decided that the ANC could not support the adoption of the report in a parliamentary vote on Tuesday.
With inputs from News24.