Pretoria – The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign with immediate effect as the head of state.
The federation has also called for his arrest.
This after the Section 89 panel chaired by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found the president may have committed serious violations of the Constitution by “acting in a manner inconsistent with his office”, exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business, as well as violation of sections of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) over the foreign currency that was held at his property in Limpopo in 2020.
It is alleged he concealed a crime at his Phala Phala farm after the theft of millions of dollars.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi called for Ramaphosa’s immediate resignation and called on the police to arrest him.
“We call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign from the government as president immediately.
“Further, we call on the police to deepen and conclude their investigation so that the president is arrested if found guilty of violating PRECCA.
“The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) must also conclude its investigation and submit its findings so that the public can know if President Ramaphosa contravened the country’s exchange control regulations,” Vavi said.
The federation added that most unanswered questions, due to the limitation of the scope of the independent panel, could be unearthed by a proper police investigation.
It also called for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to institute a prosecution for the crimes that the president had possibly committed, together with the ongoing investigations, to unravel those that remained sketchy and suspicious.
The federation added: “These revelations do not come as a surprise to us, and we have maintained from the beginning of these allegations that the president has a case to answer, especially concerning the possibility of contravening exchange controls and tax regulations.
“Historical inference underpinned our suspicions. In the past, we had pointed out that President Ramaphosa was implicated in illicit financial outflows (IFFs) when he was at Shanduka, Lonmin and MTN. The government and different research tanks have estimated the cost inflicted by the IFFs on the South African economy at a staggering R400 billion annually. Yet little has been done to investigate, arrest, and try and put the culprits in prison.
“Corruption is in the DNA of the ANC.
“Saftu is vindicated for consistently pointing out that the ANC is rotten to the core and neither of its warring factions is a better devil. They are all the same. It is not by mistake, therefore, that one of its senior leaders once boldly stated that all of the members of the NEC have their little skeletons in the cupboards. That statement has been proven over and over to be correct.”
The EFF cautioned Ramaphosa, saying he could not hide forever. “His best course of action remains immediate resignation, because he will never know peace in any sitting of Parliament,” the party said.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Tambo, in a video circulated to media houses with a slogan “Ramaphosa must go”, called him a kidnapper, torturer and a constitutional delinquent.
“The EFF will never allow a money launderer, kidnapper, torturer and constitutional delinquent to address the people of this country.
“Ramaphosa has forfeited the privilege of being a president, and no amount of running away will rescue him,” said Tambo.
He made the statement after Ramaphosa abandoned the question and answer session scheduled with the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.
Pretoria News