As President Cyril Ramaphosa faces mounting pressure over his Phala Phala game farm robbery and US dollars cash scandal, his supporters in the ANC are rallying behind him despite some admitting the saga is causing panic.
Ramaphosa, who is on Thursday expected to present his office's budget vote in the National Assembly, is facing a growing upheaval from outside the ANC, with political parties calling for him to be held to account.
But Ramaphosa supporters in the ANC told Sowetan on Wednesday that investigation should be allowed to proceed in the matter and that he has their full backing.
This comes after allegations emerged from the “theft of millions of US dollars [more than $4m] concealed at the president’s Phala Phala farm in Waterberg district of Limpopo by criminals who were colluding with his domestic worker”.
The allegations came to light after former correctional services commissioner and State Security Agency boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa at the Rosebank police station in Johannesburg last week.
Ramaphosa has denied any criminality on his part but he has confirmed that the robbery took place in February 2020 in which proceeds from the sale of game were stolen.
The EFF has threatened to disrupt his budget vote speech on Thursday if he did not step down and subject himself to investigation. In addition, public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane announced on Wednesday that she has begun an investigation against Ramaphosa for allegedly breaching the Executive Code of Ethics.
This was after African Transformation Movement president Vuyo Zungula lodged a complaint with Mkhwebane's office on the back of the allegations of criminal activities at his farm.
But one of Ramaphosa's staunch supporters, Eastern Cape premier and provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane, shut down all talk of the president possibly stepping down from his responsibilities.
Mabuyane said Ramaphosa had addressed the allegations, adding “everything was now the subject of an investigation”.
“The ANC has spoken on the matter other than to say [we must] allow investigations to happen.
“The robbery took place at his (Ramaphosa’s) place. Nothing suggests he stole money but money was stolen from him. From where we are, we’re quite happy that he’s presenting himself to [the ANC’s] Integrity Commission. We won’t entertain people talking about step aside who don’t even know what step aside means. Everyone who has other information must present that information to the authorities,” Mabuyane said.
ANC Veterans League president Snuki Zikalala said: “Everyone is panicking and saying what’s next. He was the only person committed to cleaning the ANC. But when such issues come up, they bring out uncertainty and instability. Everyone’s worried. We’re still confident he’s committed to cleaning the ANC.”
Zilkala said the league was happy that Ramaphosa had personally requested to appear before the ANC’s integrity commission.
“We wouldn’t want to jump the gun and say he’s guilty or not. We don’t know what happened. Everything we’re reading is what Fraser said and what he [Ramaphosa] said. Let’s wait for investigations to conclude,” he said.
Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi, who is seen as an ally of Ramaphosa, said she did not want to speculate on the process and outcomes of any investigations.
“We have noted the allegations by Mr Fraser and the response by the presidency. Mr Fraser did what we normally encourage people to do which is to report any allegations to the police, and the president has made himself available and promised to co-operate with any investigations,” she said.
“We also noted the report of the NWC [national working committee of the ANC] that the president has made himself available to meet the ANC Integrity Commission. We will leave it to law enforcement agencies to investigate this case like any other case without fear or favour.”
The ANC on Monday welcomed Ramaphosa's decision to voluntarily present himself to the party's Integrity Commission in line with its resolutions and policy. He previously appeared before the commission after another controversy about his CR17 campaign and the Bosasa donation saga which he was at the time deemed to have misled parliament on regarding his son Andile's role.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has called for parliament to investigate claims made by Fraser that Ramaphosa was complicit in alleged criminality.
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