Parliament has voted against starting impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over a report that says he held undeclared foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm in 2020.
MP’s voted 214 to 148 against the Section 89 Independent Panel Report. The ANC, which holds a majority, largely stood with Ramaphosa, preventing the motion from getting the two-thirds vote needed to proceed with impeachment proceedings.
Four ANC members of parliament, however, showed their opposition to Ramaphosa by voting in favour of impeachment and a few more did not show up for the vote.
Those that voted in favour of the report being adopted include Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and MP’s Supra Mahumapelo and Mozibenzi Zwane. Notably absent were Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and former health Minister Zweli Mhkize.
The crucial vote came after it was alleged that Ramaphosa illegally hid at least $580,000 in cash in a sofa at his Phala Phala game ranch. The Section 89 report said he did not properly report the theft of the money in order to avoid questions over how he got the foreign currency and why he had not declared it to authorities.
The report has brought Ramaphosa’s opponents – opposition parties and even rivals within his ANC party – to call for him to step down.
The parliamentary vote comes in a week where Ramaphosa will also be fighting for his political life as he seeks to be re-elected the leader of the ANC at its national conference starting in Johannesburg on Friday.
The conference will also elect members of the party’s National Executive Committee, which is the party’s highest decision-making body.
READ MORE: Phala Phala saga: Ramaphosa “may have breached anti-corruption laws”
Ramaphosa has taken the Section 89 panel report on review to the Constitutional Court. Some legal experts say the report did not establish sufficient evidence to conclude that Ramaphosa is guilty of wrong-doing.
The President has repeatedly denied that he broke his oath of office.
Ahead of the vote, Ramaphosa attended a passing out parade in Pretoria of thousands of new police constables who have successfully completed the required nine months of intensive training at the various police training academies across the country and at the SANDF facilities in the Northern Cape.
[INSPECTION]: President @CyrilRamaphosa inspects
the parade, accompanied by @SAPoliceService Minister Bheki Cele at the SAPS Tshwane Academy Rugby Field. The trainees have all successfully completed the 9-month Basic Police Development Learning Programme. #MoreBootsOnTheGround pic.twitter.com/w49EgCsO8G— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) December 13, 2022
Additional reporting: Al Jazeera
