STAFF REPORTER|
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa may be facing his Waterloo after opposition parties threatened to disrupt his budget vote debate on Thursday, following a criminal complaint lodged by former spy boss Arthur Fraser.
There is also a growing number of ANC members such as Tony Yengeni who are demanding that Ramaphosa step aside, and vowing not to support his bid for a second term at the upcoming elective conference in December.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said Ramaphosa was not fit to address Parliament on Thursday and called for Deputy President David Mabuza to instead deliver the speech on behalf of the President.
The Presidency’s Budget Vote is expected take place in the Good Hope Chamber at Parliament on Thursday and will be followed by a parliamentary debate on Friday.
”Parliament is not a place of criminals. It’s a place of honourable members,” said Malema.
Pressure for Ramaphosa to quit follow damning revelations of the theft of R60 million in foreign currency from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo, which the president is accused of failing to report to the police.
In his complaint, Fraser claimed that “Ramaphosa had large undisclosed sums of foreign currency in the form of US dollars concealed in his furniture at his Phala Phala residence is prima facie proof of money laundering in contravention of section 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca) 121 of 1998.”
Said Malema: ”We gave Ramaphosa a chance, he has dismally failed. We will treat him the same way we have treated (former president Jacob) Zuma. He (Ramaphosa) must leave that office with immediate effect because he has not respected his oath of office.”
The EFF believes Ramaphosa stands accused of the violation of not only domestic laws but also international conventions.
In his letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Malema raised several questions about the game farm robbery and the role of Ramaphosa in concealing the matter from the public:
- How much money was stored at the farm, and in what currency; and did Ramaphosa alert the revenue collector of such an amount of money?
- Did Ramaphosa disclose to Parliament and the executive the amount of money stored at the farm?
- Will he open a criminal case with the police in a police station about the burglary and theft at the farm?
- Did he ever receive a huge amount of money from donors during his tenure as deputy president and president of the country?
- Did he call the president of Namibia to arrange for the illegal extradition of the people who took the money from the farm?
African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula called on National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to find a suitable date before June 15 for Ramaphosa to take Parliament and South Africans into his confidence and explain the robbery at his game farm.
“This saga has already embarrassed the country and called into question the vigilance of Parliament in holding the executive to account,” said Zungula.
“The ATM is therefore appealing to the Speaker to reverse an earlier decision of the programming committee which had postponed the Q&A of the President for this quarter to the next quarter,” Zungula said.
Zungula further confirmed that the ATM has lodged a complain with the Office of the Public Protector related to president’s alleged breach of the executive code of ethics,
Oupa Segalwe, Public Protector’s spokesperson, confirmed receipt of a complaint against the President.
Earlier this week, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) wrote a letter to Mapisa-Nqakula requesting that she hold Ramaphosa to account.
In the letter, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa asked the Mapisa-Nqakula to launch an investigation, and for Ramaphosa to go on sabbatical until August.
“[If Ramaphosa goes on sabbatical], Parliament and the acting president may institute a preliminary investigation into the entire matter, with terms of reference that would include if the South African Revenue Service and the Reserve Bank had any knowledge of the matter,” said Holomisa.
“Such a preliminary investigation could be conducted by two or three retired Constitutional Court judges, and their findings could be handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said on Wednesday that she’s waiting for legal advice and investigations before Parliament can act on the accusations against Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing.
INSIDE POLITICS
