South African Parliament Delays Vote On Ramaphosa Impeachment

South Africa’s National Assembly on Monday delayed by a week a long-awaited vote on whether to launch impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the heart of a corruption scandal, the speaker of the assembly announced.

The vote was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but “we have all agreed on [the date of] December 13,” said Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula, justifying the move by the need to give each elected official time to travel to Cape Town, the seat of Parliament, for a face-to-face vote.

Earlier on Monday, the ruling party African National Congress (ANC) gave its full support to President Cyril Ramaphosa in the wake of a scandal, announcing that its members in parliament, where they have a majority, would vote against impeachment proceedings.

ANC secretary-general Paul Mashatile said this in a news conference after a meeting of the party’s top brass in Johannesburg. There was pressure last week from some quarters for Ramaphosa to quit or be forced from office over what has become known as the Phala Phala affair.

The case dates back to June, when a former spy boss filed a complaint with the police alleging that Ramaphosa had hidden the February 2020 burglary from the authorities. He accused the president of having organised for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed into silence.

To initiate an impeachment vote would require a simple majority in the National Assembly, where the ANC has 230 out of 400 seats. The impeachment vote itself would need a two-thirds majority to succeed.

Ramaphosa earlier Monday filed a petition to the Constitutional Court seeking to have the investigative report “reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside”, according to papers made available to the media by his spokesman.

Ramaphosa also asked for any possible impeachment process to be blocked, saying “any steps taken by the National Assembly pursuant to the report are equally unlawful and invalid”.