President Cyril Ramaphosa already last week secured the support of his ANC party, which has a majority in parliament with 230 of the 400 seats. The party’s leadership then vowed to vote down any attempt to force Ramaphosa out of the presidency.
That was also the case when the parliament voted on Tuesday. 214 members voted against the proposal to start an impeachment trial, while 148 were in favor.
“We will use our numbers as the ANC, because we cannot be governed by a panel that has not been objective,” said Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni before entering the debate.
— We will not allow ourselves to be bullied by anyone.
That the ANC members would stand united was expected, according to South African analyst Daniel Silke.
— The fact that it is not a closed vote will make it very difficult for MPs to vote against the party line, he said before the vote.
Much is unclear
As the debate began on Tuesday, opposition MPs called for the vote to be closed, and some said they had been threatened over the vote.
Four ANC members chose to vote in favor of the impeachment motion, and additional party members chose not to attend the vote.
Much is unclear about the scandal. According to a report, the president may have acted illegally when he did not report a burglary at his farm to the police, where large sums of money were allegedly stolen from a couch.
Perhaps it was US$580,000 in cash, or nearly ten times that amount. What is clear is that Ramaphosa is accused of trying to cover up the burglary.
Kidnapping and bribery
The scandal erupted in June when the president was reported by the country’s former head of state security, Arthur Fraser, for kidnapping and cover-up after the break-in at the farm. The aim is said to have been to hide the theft of large amounts of cash.
According to Fraser, the president kidnapped the thieves and bribed them to keep quiet, instead of reporting the theft. A police investigation is ongoing, but so far Ramaphosa has not been formally charged with a crime.
Later this week, the ANC’s big conference will take place where a new party leader will be appointed.