ANC Youth League president says Ramaphosa will finish term despite Phala Phala legal storm

The president of the ANC Youth League Collen Malatji says he is prepared to ensure that President Cyril Ramaphosa finishes his term as the country’s head of state.

His remarks come after Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and African Transformation Movement (ATM) approached the Constitutional Court on Tuesday regarding the Section 89 report on the Phala Phala scandal.

Their lawyers argued against parliament’s decision to set aside the panel’s report, which could have led to Ramaphosa’s removal from the Union Buildings.

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The report revealed that Ramaphosa could have violated the Constitution. It revealed that he had a case to answer to related to the theft of R10 million in US dollars on his farm. The money was stashed inside furniture.

‘Ramaphosa is here to stay’

Malatji told The Citizen on Thursday that the EFF and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) are wasting their time by trying to revive parliamentary processes to remove Ramaphosa.

“We will make sure that the president will finish his second term, we have learnt over time that this issue of removing presidents causes the ANC more damage than resolving any problems,” Malatji said.

He said the Youth League is satisfied with the outcomes of several agencies who have cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing. This includes the SA Reserve Bank, the Public Protector and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

“We are satisfied, and we think this issue of Phala Phala must close and it must close forever. We have bigger problems to deal with issues of youth unemployment, infrastructure, drugs, and kids [dying from contaminated food],” he said.

EFF and ATM are ‘dead organisations’

Malatji described the EFF’s Constitutional Court challenge as “malicious”.  

“They are trying to use Phala Phala and the name of the president to revive their relevance,” he said.

He said both the ATM and the EFF are using the Phala Phala matter to gain support.

“We have told the EFF that the best thing they can do is close shop and come back to the ANC.

“The EFF and the ATM are dead organisations that Zuma killed. He finished them. They cannot even save themselves.”

A political thorn on the side for the President

In 2022, there were reports that Ramaphosa wanted to resign after the Phala Phala story broke. At the time, the president was allegedly also willing to pull out of the ANC’s elective conference.

Some factions within the ANC wanted him out because of the controversy Phala Phala had created.

However, earlier this year he denied that he had considered resigning.

Ramaphosa is in his second term as ANC president and South Africa’s head of state. No ANC president has finished his term in the state house since the dawn of democracy.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court has reserved its decision on this week’s hearing.

However, a political analyst from, the University of South Africa (Unisa), Dirk Kotze, said there is a possibility that parliament might have to reconsider the Phala Phala matter once more.

“The issue is whether the parliamentarians that voted against the report, whether they neglected their responsibility to keep the president accountable. So, this is the question before the Constitutional Court,” he said.

ALSO READ: Judgment reserved on EFF Phala Phala bid after intense argument