Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign and focus on his impeachment process.
Malema was speaking to journalists outside the Constitutional Court after its ruling on Friday that parliament’s Phala Phala vote was invalid.
“If we had a responsible president, he should be resigning to prepare himself to come and answer the impeachment process,” Malema said. “Remember even if he resigns, he must still come for impeachment.”
After a 14-month delay, the apex court ruled in favour of the EFF and the African Transformation Movement when it found that parliament acted unlawfully when it voted in December 2022 to reject the Section 89 independent panel report on Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal.
The panel, which was led by retired Justice Sandile Ngcobo, found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious constitutional violations, including undisclosed foreign currency of doubtful origin; active involvement in a private business in potential breach of Section 96(2)(a) of the Constitution; failure to report the theft to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation as required by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act; and abuse of office through a secret, unofficial investigation that included requesting assistance from the president of Namibia to apprehend a suspect.
The court found that the National Assembly’s 214-to-148 vote to reject the panel’s findings was irrational and inconsistent with the Constitution.
Malema said South Africa could not afford to have a president who was occupying office while being clouded by an impeachment process. “You cannot serve the two because one is going to suffer.
“He must go and concentrate on the impeachment process because it has got serious implications on him as an individual. If I were him, I would resign with immediate effect to concentrate on this matter.”
To impeach Ramaphosa, parliament would need a two-thirds majority to ensure that he is removed as the first citizen of the country. This would mean that the EFF would need to lobby other parties in parliament to ensure that Ramaphosa is removed.
If he is impeached as a president, it would mean his presidential perks would be removed, including a salary for life and his VIP protection.
“If he is impeached, he is no longer a former president, he is just Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa; he became an ordinary man,” Malema said. “Then criminal investigations come in, Cyril is going to go to prison, the same way [Jacob] Zuma went to prison. I always tell you these things and they …happen.
“We no longer have a president, we have a criminal. There is no criminal that must be treated with respect because that criminal has undermined the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa.”
Malema said his party would, however, not lobby any party in parliament.
“We are not going to lobby anyone in the ANC or any other party. Let people use their conscience, like Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and say: I’m for the Constitution and I’m not for an individual.”
During the vote in parliament, Dlamini Zuma was the only ANC member who refused to vote with the party to protect Ramaphosa.
This was in reference to her voting for the impeachment process to proceed.
“Today, Mama Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma is vindicated and they should take a lesson from her to say these things they should not be factional and political all the time. We should always look at what is in the interest of the country,” added Malema.
To survive the impeachment, Ramaphosa would need the support of the Democratic Alliance (DA) to gain a majority. During the vote, Ramaphosa relied on the ANC’s majority support to shield him from impeachment.
However, DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said the party would not support corruption and would support the impeachment committee in having Ramaphosa removed if they voted to have him removed.
“We will be guided by the facts, by the evidence placed before the committee and by our constitutional duty. We will not prejudge the outcome. But nor will we allow any person, no matter how high their office, to be placed above accountability.
“South Africa’s democracy rests on the simple principle that public office is a public trust. Those who hold the highest offices in the land must be held to the highest standards of honesty, transparency and accountability,” he said.
South Africa cannot afford to have a president who is occupying office while being clouded by an impeachment process, the EFF leader says
