DA calls on State Security Agency to probe plot to remove Ramaphosa
The party's spokesperson says if true, the meeting was an effort to undermine the country's constitutional order and those who participated in it may be guilty of a criminal offence.
President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: AP
The DA has called on the State Security Agency (SSA) to investigate the meeting that reportedly took place in early September involving former president Jacob Zuma and senior members of the ANC, including secretary-general Ace Magashule, former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo, and ANC Women’s League secretary-general Matuba Meokgo.
According to reports, these ANC officials met over an alleged plot to have President Cyril Ramaphosa removed as president.
It was reportedly preceded by a bigger meeting with representatives from various provinces held at a hotel in Umhlanga Rocks.
Those said to have attended included Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa, and former SAA board chair Dudu Myeni – a close associate of Zuma.
The DA said in a statement on Wednesday that it would not suffice to dismiss the meeting as an internal ANC matter.
The DAs national spokesperson Refiloe Nt’sekhe said: “If reports are to be believed, the subject of discussion was nothing less than the removal of the president of South Africa.
“If true, the meeting was an effort to undermine our constitutional order and those who participated in it may be guilty of a criminal offence. The seriousness of the allegations cannot be overestimated.”
Nt’sekhe said the ANC’s infighting cannot be allowed to undermine South Africa’s constitutional democracy.
“This plot proves yet again that the failing ANC is incapable of changing and that its internal party conflicts threaten to destabilise a country that is already in a technical recession; plunging millions of our people into unemployment and poverty,” Nt’sekhe said.
Nt’sekhe said the meeting also illustrated how the ANC is no different from the one led by Zuma, claiming it was “replete with the same corruption-tainted officials and failed premiers now recycled into even more senior positions under President Cyril Ramaphosa”.
The spokesperson concluded: “Instability in the ANC cannot result in instability of the country. That is why it is essential that the Minister of State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba orders an investigation into this matter urgently to determine the nature of the gathering and whether or not any of the discussions centred on the removal of President Ramaphosa could destabilise South Africa.”
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