‘We are going to see a movie’: The fight to keep Cyril Ramaphosa as president

Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president Kenny Kunene says it is in the country’s best interest for President Cyril Ramaphosa to remain in his position as head of state.

Ramaphosa remains under scrutiny following the theft of more than $500 000 (R8.1 million today) from his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020.

A recent Constitutional Court judgement has paved the way for parliament to form an impeachment committee to investigate allegations of misconduct against the president. Ramaphosa has taken the Section 89 report, which found he has a case to answer, on review.

Opposition parties, including Julius Malema’s EFF, are calling on Ramaphosa to resign. Malema argues that it would be embarrassing for a sitting president to face an impeachment committee.

‘We are going to see a movie in the ANC’

However, Kunene told The Citizen on Tuesday that Ramaphosa’s departure will cause panic in the country.

“I think there is no plan. Instead, if he is removed, it will cause more divisions in the ANC because the ANC is more divided than ever right now. Ramaphosa is the glue that is holding them together right now.

“If he leaves, we are going to see a movie in the ANC. Naturally, Paul Mashatile will have to take over. But you also have their secretary-general [Fikile Mbalula], who also has interests in that position, so we will not know what direction they want to take. Things will be very unpredictable, and we cannot say that they will follow their own processes,” said Kunene.

‘We will defend the president’ – PA

He said his party, the PA, is fully behind Ramaphosa’s bid to clear his name and carry on in his duties as state president.

“We have already indicated that we will not be part of an impeachment process. We will defend the president.

“The president is not going to resign. He has made it very clear in the family meeting he had that he will not resign. There is not even a 50% chance that he will resign; even the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC), after meeting, has thrown its weight behind the president,” Kunene said.

Malema and Mashatile

Kunene said he believes that Malema’s appetite to have Ramaphosa booted out is driven by his ambition to join the government of national unity (GNU), with Mashatile as head of state.

“Not that I am against Paul Mashatile, but I am saying: Julius is hoping that the DA will then withdraw from the GNU, and Paul will have to bring him into the GNU so that he can also be a minister.

“That is the main reason that he is driving this thing of impeachment and that Ramaphosa must resign, that is the main big reason,” he claimed.

Kunene said Malema could also be leading a campaign for Ramaphosa’s removal in an effort to resuscitate his own popularity in political circles.

“He is no longer as influential as he used to be in South African politics, so he is trying to use this to resuscitate himself and his party so that they can take credit for removing Ramaphosa,” he said.

Kunene said, unlike Malema, Ramaphosa has not been convicted of a serious crime that could impact his political career.

“The person who must resign from parliament, as we speak, is Julius. He sits as part of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), where judges are being processed. These are the same people who will sit in a court that has convicted him. He must leave, not Ramaphosa,” said Kunene.

‘He cannot concentrate on being a president’

The Citizen has approached the EFF for comment, and a response will be published once it is received.

Speaking outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg on 8 May, Malema told his supporters that there was a plot to have him imprisoned because he has been calling for Ramaphosa to be held accountable and to face an impeachment committee.

“They want to silence you by silencing me, so that we never get to know the truth. At least I got the truth before I went to jail. At least I have opened the eyes of South Africans before I went to jail.

“Now it’s for Ramaphosa to use his conscience and resign as the president of South Africa and go and face impeachment. We cannot have a president who is doing the work of a president and doing the work of impeachment; he must concentrate on one. He cannot concentrate on being a president; he must concentrate on impeachment,” said Malema.

Mbeki’s remarks

Over the weekend, former president Thabo Mbeki was criticised for stating that the break-in at Ramaphosa’s farm and the theft of millions in foreign currency were part of the president’s private business.