IT is the second day of the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the Nasrec Expo Centre, the first physical meeting since 2020, some delegates took the opportunity to ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to step aside to allow investigations into the Phala Phala theft scandal.
“If Phala Phala money was legitimate business money, why was it in a sofa and not in a bank?” NEC member and ANC presidential hopeful Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma asked.
It is believed that Dlamini-Zuma was not alone in calling for the President to step aside in line with the ANC resolution.
However, those who support the President argued that he should stay on the job until the national elective conference in December.
The debate on Phala Phala dominated the NEC debates beginning on Friday when Ramaphosa attempted to clarify the matter in his Political Report.
Acting Secretary-General Paul Mashatile said the party will indeed discuss the “ANC Step Aside” rule with a view to tighten it.
Mashatile said there are members who feel strongly that the rule was not being implemented fairly on members and therefore this was a big problem.
Political Analyst Ongama Mtimka said the idea for the President to say that he reported the theft to another person is unsettling.
“He should have followed up. It’s a scandal on many fronts. Keeping foreign currency longer than required is questionable,” Mtimka said.
He said calls by Dr. Dlamini-Zuma to question the President are understandable. If the money is indeed clean, why keep it instead of banking?
‘If Phala Phala money was legitimate business why was it on Sofa or mattress and not in the Bank?’ Says The Incoming Madam President Nkosazana Dlamini-#Zuma. #ANewsANC #ANCNEC #NDZ22 ✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/KFoLhNdCAH
— Cadre Lerato Nguyi (@CadreNguyi) November 12, 2022
The step-aside rule was only challenged by suspended Secretary-General Ace Magashule on its consistency with ANC constitution.
“I feel the rule was wrong in the first place. The ANC Integrity Committee cannot ask President Ramaphosa to step aside based on the current rule. But they can say the President brought the party into disrepute,” said Mtimka.
Mashatile who is expected to present a report from the ANC’s integrity commission said it was possible for the committee to ask any leader to step aside even if they are not criminally charged.
“There is a bit of confusion with people thinking you step aside only when you are charged, this is not the case,” he said.
Mtimka said President Ramaphosa shouldn’t be running for office in the first place. He added that “no ordinary South African will survive if found with so much cash in foreign currency.”
Another analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has displayed an enormous appetite to charge people on frivolous matters such as non-compliance to COVID-19 regulations.
Seepe said the current leadership of the ANC appears to be made of people who are in Ramaphosa’s deep pocket.
“There is no doubt that Ramaphosa has something to hide. If he was as clean and as innocent as he claims he would have come out and have taken the country to his confidence. He has hidden behind the dubious notion of due process. This is nonsense. No truthful statement will undermine due process.
As a matter of fact due process will benefit from disclosure of facts and truth. There is no doubt that the institutions that are entrusted in enforcing the rule of law have tainted themselves by protecting. There is enough evidence to prefer charges against. One thing for sure is that he has brought both the ANC and the country to disrepute,” Seepe said.
The ANC is holding an ordinary NEC meeting at Nasrec Expo Centre, south of Johannesburg.
President Ramaphosa is expected to close the meeting on Sunday.
I will step down if fingered – @CyrilRamaphosa
— Fortune_K (@fortunekighlex) November 12, 2022
Well, when are you stepping down Mr PhalaPhala?#ANCNEC #PhalaPhalaFarmGate pic.twitter.com/OL41uGzq0p
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