The Economic Freedom Fighters’ deputy president, Floyd Shivambu says President Cyril Ramaphosa should not remain in office but should step aside pending the outcome of an investigation into his Limpopo farm robbery two years ago.
Shivambu was reacting to Deputy President David Mabuza who has told the National Assembly that law enforcement agencies should be allowed to conduct a proper investigation of the robbery before jumping to any conclusions.
Mabuza was answering oral questions in Parliament.
Deputy President David Mabuza says a decision on whether President Ramaphosa should step aside will be made once investigations into the matter have been done:
However, Shivambu claims that as long as the President is in office, those investigating the matter will be intimidated.
“Look, we will not dignify what the deputy president of the ANC said in Parliament. What we know is that if what is contained in the affidavit there are so many laws that Ramaphosa has violated and he must be held accountable and that can’t happen if he remains in the seat as president of SA because the policemen and women who must investigate him will be afraid of losing their jobs, because they are investigating the head of the country. The fact that he had millions on his farm raises questions such as what is the source of that money. So, there are so many things that Ramaphosa has to account to and he cannot do so when he’s still occupying the position of the president of the republic as that will intimidate those who do their work openly and thoroughly.”
Public Protector to investigate the matter
Meanwhile, the Public Protector’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe has outlined some of the alleged breaches of the executive code of ethics that the leader of the African Transformation Movement claims President Cyril Ramaphosa has made.
Busisiwe Mkhwebane has confirmed that her office will investigate the matter and that she has written letters to different sources of information, including the President.
The complaint relates to Ramaphosa’s alleged conduct in respect of allegations of criminal activities at his Phala Phala farm.
ATM president Vuyo Zungula lodged the complaint on Friday. Segalwe says his office has commenced the investigation.
“Mr. Zungula alleges a number of breaches of the executive of ethics code on the president, first he alleges that the president may have undertaken other paid works outside his numerations that he gets as a member of the executive. As a result, he alleges that the president may have exposed himself to a risk of a conflict between his official duties and his private affairs. Furthermore, he alleges that in getting involved in all that has been alleged the president may have acted in a manner that is inconsistent with the office that he occupies.”
