South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing impeachment over a report submitted by an independent panel appointed by parliament accusing him of “serious misconduct.”
The report described potential “gross misconduct” by Ramaphosa and stated the embattled president had “violated his oath of office” in the scandal that has been named Farmgate. Millions of dollars were reported stolen from his private ranch following the sale of cattle, with proceeds/income that was not disclosed. The president is alleged to have kept the money, hired private security to track down the thieves and to have bribed the thieves to keep quiet about the money, allegedly stashed in a sofa.
Ramaphosa is accused of holding undeclared foreign currency, tax evasion, failing to inform police about the robbery and misusing state resources. The three-person panel decided that Ramaphosa should face further scrutiny and be impeached because of the alleged wrongdoing.
Ramaphosa has said he plans to appeal the report which a spokesperson called, “flawed,” and would potentially destabilize the country by removing a head of state.
Ramaphosa is less than a month away from an elective conference that will decide if he is allowed to run for a second term on the governing African National Congress (ANC) 2024 ticket.
Read more about Farmgate and the independent panel’s report on The Guardian or Reuters.
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