President Cyril Ramaphosa may be faced with a plan to oust President Cyril Ramaphosa, as the Constitutional Court will rule on the theft of US dollars from his Phala Phala farm.
The court will issue the much awaited decision today at 10 am.
The court will decide whether it was legal for the Parliament to reject the report of the team led by the retired judge, Sandile Ngcobo.
The report found that there is a possibility that Ramaphosa has to answer for the allegations that he was not reported to the police about the abductor’s toe.
Dismissal of the report meant that Ramaphosa escaped the suggestion that he be removed from office.
The EFF and ATM then filed a petition in court challenging the annulment of the report. Then there is time to wait for the court’s decision as the case was heard in 2024.
The EFF has held various protests demanding that the court issue a decision.
EFF members will be protesting outside the court today when the verdict is announced.
A political analyst from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Mr. Zakhele Ndlovu, said Ramaphosa may find himself in trouble if the court rules in favor of the EFF.
Ndlovu said that if the court rules in favor of the EFF, it will be difficult for Ramaphosa as the ANC no longer has enough seats in Parliament to defeat any attempt to remove him from office.
Ndlovu said that Ramaphosa should pray that the parties allied with the ANC in the government oppose the attempts to remove him from office.
“The people of the coalition governing parties are the ones I look up to the most. The question is whether the parties within the coalition government will try to protect him or will they do their job honestly.”
Ndlovu said that it will also depend on the plan that will be used if there is a proposal to remove Ramaphosa from office.
“If voting is done in secret, Ramaphosa can be turned away even by members of the ANC who do not support him. If voting is done openly, he will survive.”
EFF spokesperson, Mr. Sinawo Tambo, said they are looking forward to the court’s decision.
“We have been waiting for the court’s decision for 521 days. Only the EFF has been standing still, demanding that Ramaphosa answer. We have had many protests and we have also written to the chief justice (Judge Mandisa Maya) seeking answers on this matter. The delay in the decision makes people not trust the law enforcement agencies,” said Tambo.
Many agencies that investigated the incident including the public defender’s office, the police monitoring unit Ipid, the State Bank and SA Revenue Services brought Ramaphosa forward.
These agencies condemned the police who were guarding Ramaphosa and accused them of beating the suspects and using the resources of the State to search for the suspects in Namibia.
The leader of ATM in Parliament, Mr. Vuyo Zungula, complained that the State agencies are protecting Ramaphosa.
“Here we are dealing with a person who is protected by different government agencies. What people should know is that no one is above the law. The president should also face the law.”
The spokesperson for the Office of the President, Mr. Vincent Magwenya, appealed to the people to wait for the court’s decision.
“It is difficult to speak now because the court has not issued a decision. It is difficult to say what will happen if the court’s decision says this. It is better not to wait for the court to issue a decision.”