Convicted individuals such as Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and former president Jacob Zuma cannot tell President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign, ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji says.
“There is no way that political parties led by convicted individuals and people who have been criminally charged can tell us that a president who is not a criminal is a criminal,” Malatji told a briefing on Tuesday.
“You go to the MK [uMkhonto weSizwe] Party, which is led by a bandit, and you go to the EFF, which is led by a bandit called Julius, to tell us that a president who is not a bandit is a bandit.”
Malatji was responding to growing political pressure on Ramaphosa to resign after a Constitutional Court ruling related to the Phala Phala matter found that parliament had acted irrationally when it voted against referring the issue to an impeachment committee.
In a national address on Monday, Ramaphosa said he would not resign despite the ruling and the initiation of parliamentary steps towards a possible impeachment inquiry, insisting that nothing in the judgment required him to step down.
“I therefore respectfully want to make it clear that I will not resign,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the ruling had generated “much commentary, debate and speculation” and had contributed to “concern and uncertainty in the country over the last few days”.
The judgment has triggered renewed calls for his resignation from several political parties, including the EFF, uMkhonto weSizwe Party and the African Transformation Movement, among others.
In 2022, an independent panel chaired by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa might have committed serious constitutional violations linked to the Phala Phala scandal.
The Constitutional Court later ruled that the National Assembly’s 214–148 vote rejecting the panel’s findings was irrational and inconsistent with the Constitution. The apex court ordered that the matter be referred back to parliament for reconsideration under revised rules that could enable an impeachment inquiry.
Ramaphosa said he accepted and respected the court’s ruling and “I reiterate my firm commitment to the Constitution, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law”.
He added that he would review the Ngcobo panel’s findings despite the Constitutional Court’s directive that parliament must revisit the matter.
Malatji said parliament should wait for Ramaphosa’s review process to conclude before moving ahead with any impeachment proceedings.
“If the report is correct, the president must enter that process … For now, they must wait for the review process. You can’t have two processes speaking to the same issue because which report are you going to use there?”
He said no court had found Ramaphosa guilt, adding that the president should be allowed to exercise his constitutional right to seek a review.
Malatji said the ANC Youth League would not call for Ramaphosa to step down or be subjected to the ANC’s step-aside rule in the absence of a formal charge.
“We are not the ‘hands-off Ramaphosa Youth League’; we are a youth league of the ANC and the first line of defence for the ANC,” he said.
“Anyone found guilty of wrongdoing, we are the first ones to call them out. Just to add on, Ramaphosa is not even accused of stealing state resources.”
He said beneficiaries of state capture were behind efforts to resist reforms aimed at cleaning up corruption in state-owned entities.
ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji defends Cyril Ramaphosa, attacking Julius Malema and Jacob Zuma over calls for his resignation after the Phala Phala ruling
