South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, under threat of impeachment, has no intention of “resigning or stepping aside”, his spokesman Vincent Magwenya told AFP on Saturday.
Implicated since Wednesday by a parliamentary report affirming that he “could have committed” acts contrary to the law in a case of burglary in one of his properties where large sums of cash were found, the president has decided not to “resign on the basis of an erroneous report, he is not going to fade either”, he asserted.
The president will also contest this report which overwhelms him by way of justice.
“It is in the long-term interest and sustainability of our constitutional democracy, well beyond the Ramaphosa presidency, that such a flawed report be challenged, especially when used as a benchmark for impeach an incumbent head of state,” his spokesperson explained.
Mr Ramaphosa has been the subject of a complaint since June accusing him of having tried to cover up this burglary in February 2020, during which $ 580,000 in cash hidden in a sofa was stolen, and of not having reported the incident neither to the police nor to the tax authorities. This complaint has not yet given rise to any prosecution and the police investigation is continuing.
The ANC, the party of Mr. Ramaphosa in power since the fall of apartheid, meets on December 16 to appoint its next president in 2024, if however the party, increasingly contested, wins the legislative elections.
Mr. Ramaphosa “took to heart the unequivocal message emanating from the branches of the ruling party which nominated him for a second term at the head of the ANC”, says his spokesperson.
He “understands that this message means that he must pursue economic reforms,” explains Mr. Magwenya. “The President has accepted with humility, great care and commitment, this call to continue to be at the service of his organisation, the ANC, and of the South African people”.