By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will make an announcement in due course about Phala Phala, says minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele.
“Let’s wait for the pronouncements,” Gungubele said.
Ramaphosa is studying the findings of the Phala Phala report and will respond to it.
“All that we are calling upon South Africans is that the president said he is studying the findings and then in his own statement, he will make a pronouncement in due course, and we strongly call upon South Africans for their indulgence to await that,” said Gungubele.
On repeated calls for Ramaphosa to heed his own party’s policy for tainted leaders to step aside, Gungubele said this has been going on for a while, and these calls were not new.
However, he reiterated several times during a Cabinet briefing that Ramaphosa is a law-abiding man.
Until this point, the president has respected the laws of this country; the president has been subjected to the processes.
“We have not seen anything untoward as far as the laws of this country are concerned,” said Gungubele.
Gungubele said citizens had no reason to feel shocked because there have been no threats to the law of rule, which governs all who live in South Africa.
The report findings led to the president postponing an appearance at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in which he was expected to brief the house on efforts to reduce load shedding and the development of rural and township economies.
An advisory panel established by parliament found there are grounds for lawmakers to investigate Ramaphosa in connection with a scandal over a robbery at his game farm, weakening his chances of winning a second term.
“In light of all the information placed before the panel, we conclude that this information discloses, prima facie, that the president may have committed” violations of sections of the constitution, it said in the report published on Wednesday.
The rand weakened as much as 0.4% to an intraday low of 17.0751 per dollar after the report was released.
Lawmakers are scheduled to debate the report’s findings on 6 December and the governing African National Congress will have to decide whether to block its adoption.
If it’s accepted, a panel of lawmakers will be established to investigate the president’s conduct, and it could take months, or even years to complete its work. The party could, however, decide to sanction the president or even call on him to step down in the interim.
A former labour union leader and one of the wealthiest Black South Africans, the 70-year-old Ramaphosa has widely been expected to win a second term as ANC leader when it holds its five-yearly elective conference that begins on 16 December. The ANC is scheduled to hold a special meeting of its executive body on Thursday.
Ramaphosa reiterated his denial of any wrongdoing in a statement issued by his office. The presidency said that parliament needs to consider the panel’s findings and determine the most appropriate way forward.
“I have endeavoured, throughout my tenure as president, not only to abide by my oath but to set an example of respect for the constitution, for its institutions, for due process and the law,” Ramaphosa said in the statement.
“I categorically deny that I have violated this oath in any way, and I similarly deny that I am guilty of any of the allegations made against me.”
The furore erupted in June when Arthur Fraser, the former head of South Africa’s national spy agency, laid charges against Ramaphosa, alleging that he failed to properly report the 2020 theft of more than $4 million from his farm in the northern Limpopo province.
Meanwhile ANC presidential hopeful and Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has called for Ramaphosa to step aside over the findings of the independent panel into the Phala Phala scandal.
This is despite the fact that Ramaphosa has not been criminally charged as the ANC’s step-aside resolution only requires party members who are criminally charged to temporarily vacate their positions.
“think the president will have to step aside [and] answer the case. I think he should step aside as [president of the ANC and country] because the president has influence over everything.
So, if he has a case to answer, then it’s better if he is not there when people are asking the questions,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
The minister emphasised that Ramaphosa should not wait to be criminally charged before stepping down.
“The judges have said he has a case to answer; it’s not coming from me or you, but it’s coming from a panel led by a judge appointed by Parliament,” she said.
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe has dismissed calls for Ramaphosa to step aside in accordance with the governing party’s 2017 resolution.
Mabe said the step-aside rule does not apply to Ramaphosa at this point because he has not been criminally charged.
The ANC’s highest decision-making body in between conferences – the national executive committee (NEC) – is expected to meet on Thursday evening for a special meeting to deliberate on the Phala Phala panel report.