Sunday Times E-Edition

Behind the scenes with a president in crisis

Ramaphosa and team worked flat out after panel report hit his desk

By AMANDA KHOZA

● President Cyril Ramaphosa was at his Tuynhuys offices in Cape Town with his chief of staff, Roshene Singh, and legal adviser, Nokukhanya Jele, on Wednesday afternoon when he first learnt of the panel’s findings of a prima facie case against him around the burglary at his Phala Phala farm.

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces chair Amos Masondo provided him with the report after the cabinet meeting earlier that day.

There was “no drama” when the report landed on Ramaphosa’s desk, said Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

“We have been dealing with the Phala Phala burglary issue since June, thus we have always been aware of the different permutations that could arise around the matter,” he said.

“The president always has his core team within reach and we are always able to activate ourselves rapidly. So there was no drama at all.”

After receiving the report, Ramaphosa immediately sought advice from members of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), some ministers, and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina.

Magwenya and the director-general in the Presidency, Phindile Baleni, were also roped into discussions.

On Thursday, Ramaphosa continued to consult. He held meetings with lawyers, a number of ANC provincial chairs and his core team — Baleni, Jele, Singh, Magwenya and other special advisers in his office. He also spoke to several ministers.

Also on Thursday’s list of meetings was a phone conversation with ANC treasurergeneral and acting secretary-general Paul Mashatile, during which the two agreed “that since the ANC’s special NEC [meeting scheduled for Friday] will be discussing him, there was no need for him to attend the meeting”.

Magwenya said Ramaphosa also reached out to the tripartite alliance leaders of Cosatu and the SACP.

On Friday, Ramaphosa again met with his core team and later informed Mashatile that “he is considering taking the report on review and again agreed that he will not attend the NEC because he will be the subject of discussion”. He again spoke to SACP and Cosatu leaders.

Yesterday Ramaphosa met with ANC national officials.

“In all of these discussions, options available to the president were explored. Importantly, though, ramifications for the country and stability of government were discussed and debated,” Magwenya said.

While some of Ramaphosa’s close allies have said that he initially intended to resign from office, Magwenya said this was not true.

“He has no intention of resigning. Weighing the prospects of a sitting head of state going through an impeachment process and what that would mean for the stability of government and the country, resigning was an option explored but it was never a definitive decision,” he said.

Magwenya added that Ramaphosa couldn’t have made a decision to resign without going through the processes of the governing party.

“In all the different options available to the president, the best interest of the country was first and foremost in his mind and with those he engaged,” he said. “The structures of his governing party, the ANC, have given a very unequivocal directive, in their nominations of the president for a second leadership term of the ANC, that they want him to continue leading the renewal of their organisation and state and economic reforms. In light of these considerations, the president cannot be casual about his decisions.”

Magwenya added that Ramaphosa has decided to take the section 89 panel report on review.

“It is in the long-term interest and sustainability of our constitutional democracy and well beyond the Ramaphosa presidency that such a clearly flawed report is challenged, especially when it’s being used as point of reference to remove a sitting head of state,” he said.

“The president remains in good spirits. Serving the people of South Africa as their president has never been an entitlement to power or a selfish endeavour for access to state resources.”

Magwenya said Ramaphosa believes that “his service to his governing party and the country has always been a privilege he accepted with humility, great care and commitment to better the lives of people of our country and to ensure no-one is left behind in the process of growing and advancing the economy”.

“The best interest of the country is front and centre in his approach to the matter. What happens now either presents untold future damage to our constitutional democracy or continues to strengthen our democracy and its institutions. As always, the president remains committed to safeguard the future prospects of our democracy.”

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2022-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://times-e-editions.pressreader.com/article/281556589852975

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