President Cyril Ramaphosa engages with ANC Eastern Cape as he took the party's Letsema campaign ahead of the party's 55th National Conference.
Image: @CyrilRamaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa engages with ANC Eastern Cape as he took the party's Letsema campaign ahead of the party's 55th National Conference.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the closing address at the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at Nasrec, Johannesburg, on Sunday afternoon.
In his political report which he presented to the meeting, Ramaphosa for the first time volunteered to speak about the alleged theft of millions of US Dollars from his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo almost three years ago.
It’s a week since Ramaphosa submitted his response to the Section 89 Independent Panel of Experts which is assessing whether or not he has a case to answer on constitutional grounds over the saga.
Ramaphosa meets the deadline, Sysman Motloung:
While the Panel is continuing with its assessment of the information submitted by the African Transformation Movement (ATM), Economic Freedom Fighters ( EFF), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and Ramaphosa’s response to the Phala Phala allegations levelled against him, he also shed some light about the matter with his party at the NEC meeting.
Section 89 Panel D Day looming
There are four more days left for the Section 89 panel to conclude its assessment, write and finalise its report. The report will be submitted to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly (NA) would determine the fate of Ramaphosa if he were to face a Section 89 inquiry. Ramaphosa would only face such an inquiry if the Section 89 Panel of Experts recommended that he faces such an inquiry on constitutional grounds.
If the panel were to find that Ramaphosa had a case to answer and the Assembly was to endorse its recommendation, a committee would be established to conduct a Section 89 inquiry.
Panel or Committee recommendations not final and binding on NA
In terms of Rule 129 (O), the committee must report back to the National Assembly with findings, recommendations and reasons for such findings and recommendations after the inquiry. The rule dictates that the report must be scheduled for consideration and debate by the Assembly with due urgency.
Should the Section 89 Committee recommend the removal of a President from office, it would require at least a two-thirds majority vote to remove the President with immediate effect, as stated in the Rule.
This means at least 266 to 267 of the 400 members of the Assembly should vote in favour of the Committee’s recommendation to remove a President from office.
However, Rule 129 (P) further explains that any recommendation made by the panel or the committee is not final and binding on the National Assembly.
Rule 129 (Q) further states: “If the President is removed, the benefits must strictly be dealt with in terms of the relevant provisions of the constitution”. In terms of the provision made in Section 89 (2) of the Constitution, anyone who is removed from office on grounds of serious violation of the constitution or the law, or serious misconduct, may not receive any benefits of that office, and may not serve in any public office.
President unmoved by critics
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he does not feel undermined by noise from his political opponents regarding the Phala Phala matter, ahead of the ANC’s elective conference in December. This is according to his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.
Some ANC members and Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, have called on Ramaphosa to step aside, in the wake of the alleged theft of millions of dollars from his game farm.
