In a vote in parliament on Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa survived an attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
The move was widely anticipated after the ruling African National Congress (ANCtop )’s leadership called on their parliamentary caucus to block the investigation.
MPs were asked to articulate their votes in person one by one after the Speaker of Parliament ruled that requests to hold the vote in secret would be denied.
There were a few ANC ‘yes’ votes and a couple of no-shows, but their caucus remained mostly intact. The opposition parties were mostly united in calling for an impeachment investigation. The vote required a simple majority.
The vote came after an independent panel determined that there is preliminary evidence that he may have violated his oath of office.
The findings are related to an ongoing scandal involving the theft of over $500,000 in cash from his private game farm in 2020. According to the panel investigation, the cash was stuffed inside a leather sofa.
The panel, chaired by a former chief justice, determined that the crime was not reported to the police and that there was a “deliberate decision to keep the investigation secret.”
Ramaphosa’s lawyers have sought to challenge the panel’s findings in court, following initial speculation that he would resign. The president has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming that the funds were obtained through the sale of wildlife at his Phala Phala farm.
The president will compete in an ANC elective conference later this week, which he is widely expected to win.
The vote was preceded by a heated debate in which opposition party leaders chastised both the president and the ANC caucus for failing to provide a full explanation for the cash.
“You are so desperate to avoid any type of investigation into the crimes that occurred in and around the Phala Phala farm that you have decided to spit in the face of the freedoms and institutions for which so many people fought and died,” said Julius Malema, the Economic Freedom Fighters leader.
“As long as you have the numbers in parliament, you can make any scandal go away, and if that is how you intend to vote today, in one unified shield against accountability and oversight, just like you did in the Zuma days,” said John Steenhuisen, leader of the official opposition Democratic Alliance, referring to Ramaphosa’s predecessor Jacob Zuma, who was never censured by parliament but was eventually forced to resign after a corruption scandal.
The report, according to ANC members, did not provide enough evidence to warrant an impeachment proceeding. Outside of parliament, the president could face multiple investigations.
