Pretoria – The founding general secretary of Saftu, Zwelinzima Vavi, says resignation is the only option for beleaguered President Cyril Ramaphosa following the damning report by the Section 89 Independent Panel which found that he may have a case to answer on the Phala Phala farm scandal.
“There is no other option. This independent panel’s report is just damning. It has put the president six feet down, in a coffin, and ready to be buried by his own enemies within own party.
“He has to go. For the sake of himself, and for the sake of the country and its well-being, he has to resign. He should not wait for the NEC (national executive committee of the ANC) meeting tonight where thieves will be deciding what to do with another thief,” Vavi said, speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
“He should leave right now. Further, Saftu (the SA Federation of Trade Unions) calls on the police to deepen and conclude the investigation on all the areas. If the president is arrested as a result of allegations that he violated PRECCA (the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act), then like everybody else he must be tried.”
The outspoken unionist said if he was found guilty in a court of law, Ramaphosa must “immediately be put in prison for a long sentence”.
Earlier, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele appealed to the South African public to exercise patience, and give Ramaphosa the opportunity to fully study the report of the panel chaired by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo.
Addressing journalists in the Western Cape, following a Cabinet meeting, Gungubele said the matter around the money at Phala Phala was a very complex issue.
Meanwhile, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, a senior member of the ANC NEC, has called on Ramaphosa to step aside immediately following the damning findings by the independent panel.
Dlamini Zuma made the call while speaking on the JJ Tabane show ‘Power to Truth’ on eNCA on Wednesday evening.
Dlamini Zuma’s call also comes amid mounting pressure for Ramaphosa to resign or face an impeachment process over how he handled the Phala Phala matter that dates back to February 2020.
Reacting to Dlamini Zuma’s calls, Gungubele said the clamouring was not new.
“The call for the president to step aside did not come for the first time yesterday. It has been ongoing. To us, it is not new. All we are calling on South Africans is that the president said he is studying the findings, and in his own statement he will make a pronouncement in due course,” said Gungubele.
“We strongly call on South Africa for indulgence, to actually await that.”
At the same briefing, Gungubele said Ramaphosa should be given the opportunity to study the report fully.
“If you read the statement (issued by the Presidency), the president says I appreciate the predicament. I remember that word is included. The kind of decision that is taken by the president, it must be informed by a lot of things,” said Gungubele.
“Remember you are dealing here with a president who is subjected to processes for something that happened in his own house, his own property. I’m not sure if you understand this. We are not dealing with somebody who stole from your house.”
He said the issue at hand is quite “unique”.
“It is not an easy decision. I think let us (allow) the president to take an informed decision on the matter. He has got a history of having done that, and he is quite an intelligent president, by the way,” said Gungubele.
Retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo’s three-member Independent Section 89 Panel found Ramaphosa had violated his oath of office in handling the break-in and theft of a huge amount of money in US dollars at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.
In a report, which Justice Ngcobo released to Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula on Wednesday morning but which was made public in the evening, the panel found Ramaphosa had committed four serious violations and there was prima facie evidence against him.
IOL