CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Monday that he will not resign from office despite the establishment of an impeachment committee to re-examine allegations that he committed serious misconduct by concealing the theft of more than half a million dollars in cash that was stashed in a couch at his sports farm.
In a televised address to the nation, Ramaphosa said he would legally challenge a parliamentary report that found credible evidence of wrongdoing on his part, a process that is likely to significantly delay potential impeachment proceedings against him.
He has faced calls from various quarters, especially opposition parties, to step down from his post as these processes have unfolded.
His announcement came hours after the South African Parliament said it would establish an impeachment committee in compliance with a ruling by the country's highest court last week that the report should be referred to the impeachment committee.
“I therefore want to respectfully make it clear that I will not resign. To do so would be to circumvent the process as defined by the Constitution. To do so would be to give credibility to a panel report which unfortunately has serious flaws,” Ramaphosa said on Monday.
his decision prevails A decision of the top constitutional court On Friday it said the 2022 parliament vote that halted impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa over the scandal was unconstitutional.
Ramaphosa's African National Congress party had a majority in Parliament at the time of the vote. The vote took place despite an independent report finding evidence of alleged wrongdoing by the President in not properly reporting the theft to police and trying to keep the investigation secret in order to recover the money.
The Constitutional Court said last week that, as per procedure, the 2022 independent report should have been referred to the impeachment committee for further investigation.
According to the constitution, impeachment of the leader of Africa's top economy would require the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers in the 400-member parliament.
The multi-party impeachment committee still needs to conduct an investigation before any move to hold a vote on impeachment. No time limit was given for this in Monday's Parliament statement.
Ramaphosa's ANC party lost its parliamentary majority in the historic 2024 election and is now the largest party in the 10-party coalition government. He can still avoid an impeachment vote if his party's MPs support him.
The scandal badly damaged the reputation of the president, who took office in 2018 on an anti-corruption ticket after a decade of government corruption scandals under former leader Jacob Zuma.
The allegations against Ramaphosa were first made by a former head of South Africa's state security agency, who walked into a police station in 2022 and accused the president of money laundering and other crimes involving money. It emerged that the theft took place in 2020 and was kept secret.
Ramaphosa denied wrongdoing and said the money – in US dollars – came from the legitimate sale of buffaloes on his farm. However, questions arose about source of wealth And why was it hidden in the sofa.
A 2022 independent report said there was “legitimate doubt” over the source of the funds, and some evidence that the amount was higher than the $580,000 claimed by Ramaphosa. It also said Ramaphosa had used the head of his presidential security unit and others to “covertly” Find the suspects.
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Associated Press writer Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
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