President Cyril Ramaphosa leaves an African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee meeting, 4 December 2022, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, after being recused from the meeting as the ANC leadership discusses his future. Picture: Michel Bega
The Congress of the People (Cope) has rejected calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to be removed from office following a report investigating a scandalous farm heist that took place on Ramphosa’s private wildlife reserve, Phala Phala.
While most opposition parties have come together saying the governing party’s anti-corruption crusader is tainted and must therefore be impeached, Cope seems to be part of a group of people who feel that South Africa’s best chances lies with Ramaphosa.
While acknowledging that the allegations against Ramaphosa “are very serious, ” the party feels the president must answer all the questions coming from the Phala Phala robbery in order to clear his name.
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“Cope acknowledged the Independent Panel Report that was handed over to the Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces.
Cope welcomes the decision of President Ramaphosa to take the report for legal review. We believe it is his democratic right to do so.”
The party said it “refuses to support the Nkandla tea party agenda.”
“We are not going to be hoodwinked by thugs who want to remove President Ramaphosa.”
Cope said it was in the country’s best interests that Ramaphosa continue to lead the country.
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“We will not be populists but will act in the best interest of the country and not in the interest of thugs who want to further destroy our beloved country.
“Many of these thieves in the ANC who scream that President Ramaphosa must resign, know very well that the doors of prison are slowly opening for them, and they must do everything possible to remove President Ramaphosa from office.”
Cope fears the work done under Ramaphosa’s tenure to catch and prosecute those implicated in state capture will fall away or be “thrown out the window.”
“It will suffer the same fate of the Anti-corruption unit the Scorpions, which they disbanded.
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“For close to five years, the country and the world heard the most horrifying evidence on how cadres and leaders of the ANC were involved in State Capture and Corruption before the Zondo Commission,” said the party.
“We reiterate the seriousness of the Phala Phala farm robbery, and therefore, we want to call upon the law enforcement agencies and other government institutions that investigate this robbery to speed up the investigation. They must either charge the president or clear the president,” concluded Cope.
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