President Cyril Ramaphosa has no plans to step aside because of the Phala Phala investigations.

But, should Ramaphosa be criminally charged over the Phala Phala scandal, he will gladly step aside.

That’s according to Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, who again reiterated that there are currently no charges against his boss.

“The president has not been charged with any crime. There are investigations. The presumption of innocent until guilty remains. Should the president be charged, he will gladly step aside,” Magwenya said on Sunday.

He was addressing a press briefing in Pretoria, detailing Ramaphosa’s schedule for the week.

“The question is best posed to those who have made the call for the president to step aside as to what informs those calls. As things stand, there are no criminal charges against the president. What we have is a series of investigations that he is fully cooperating with, and he will continue to do so until those investigations are concluded,” he said.

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appointed the Section 89 inquiry panel following a motion by ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula for Ramaphosa’s removal on the grounds of “a serious violation of the Constitution or the law and serious misconduct”.

Ramaphosa told a panel he was innocent of charges that he violated the Constitution and his oath of office.

At the weekend, Ramaphosa came under attack, with regard to the Phala Phala allegations, on the first day of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting.

There were calls for him to step aside – and his explanation was deemed, by some in the NEC, to be inadequate.

In particular, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma took aim at Ramaphosa.

The Phala Phala saga became a burning issue in June, after the former director-general of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, opened a kidnapping and money laundering case against Ramaphosa, the head of the Presidential Protection Unit, Major-General Wally Rhoode, and Crime Intelligence members.

Fraser said they had allegedly concealed a burglary at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020.

According to Fraser’s affidavit, Ramaphosa had at least $4 million in cash stashed in a couch on the game farm, and that he played a part in covering it up after an alleged illegal investigation.

News24