South Africa: The independent panel appointed by the speaker of South Africa’s Parliament has found preliminary evidence of South African President Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa’s oath violation, which could lead to his impeachment.
The President is accused of covering up a theft worth $4 million from his farm in 2020, including kidnapping and bribing the burglars for their support.
The leaked Report stated that Mr. Ramaphosa abused his position and might have broken an anti-corruption law.
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.
Mr. Ramaphosa shared in a statement.
According to the Panel, Mr. Ramaphosa put himself into a situation where there was a conflict of interest between his official duties and commercial interests in cattle and game farming, and acted in a way that was inappropriate for his position.
The Panel’s findings have been forwarded to Parliament, which will review them and decide whether or not to begin the impeachment process.
The President will be facing an elective conference in a month that will decide if he is eligible to have a second term on the ruling African National Congress’s (ANC) ticket at the 2024 polls. The issue is expected to be discussed at the ANC’s executive meeting.
Mr. John Steenhuisen, the leader of South Africa’s main opposition party, the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA), declared that, “The report itself leaves the president in a virtually untenable position, particularly as it relates to his own party’s step aside rules and the strong line that he has taken against others within his party,”
As per the reports, the Farmgate scandal emerged in June, when a former South African spy boss, Mr. Arthur Fraser, filed a complaint with police accusing the president of hiding a theft of $4 million from his Phala Phala farm in the north-east of the country in 2020.