The Section 89 independent panel investigating the Phala Phala farm scandal, in its report released on Wednesday, found that there is prima facie evidence of serious misconduct against Ramaphosa over the foreign currency that was held at his property.
NEC member Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who was giving a live broadcast interview when the report was released, said that Ramaphosa should immediately step aside.
“The president will have to step aside as both leader of the ANC and president of the country. The president has an influence on everything, and if he has a case to answer, it is better when people are asking questions.
“The step-aside rule at the 54th ANC conference, stipulates he should step aside. The judge said he had a case to answer. This is a panel led by a judge and appointed by Parliament,” she said.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe in an interview on Thursday said the NEC would receive a report from national officials who met following the panel report.
He said the NEC would deliberate on the report, make a determination and communicate this to the public.
Asked whether the party could ask Ramaphosa to step aside, Mabe said where the party had to make these decisions in the past, it had done so, citing the suspension of secretary-general Ace Magashule and other examples.
He said the party would use its own guidelines related to the credibility and integrity of the party.
At an NEC meeting last month, Dlamini Zuma's fellow NEC members questioned why, if the money was for genuine farm business activities, it was hidden in mattresses.
Ramaphosa told that meeting that he had done nothing wrong, that he had not hidden the money, and said he had reported the theft to the SAPS, who are part of the Presidential Protection Unit, with the hope that they would initiate the necessary process to have the matter investigated.
The panel was formed after the ATM submitted a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa after former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal charge against the president and former head of the Presidential Protection Unit, Wally Rhoode, for allegedly kidnapping and torturing five men and a woman to reveal where they had hidden millions in foreign currency stolen from the president’s farm.
According to Fraser's affidavit, Ramaphosa had at least $4 million (about R69.29 million) in cash stashed in a couch on the game farm and played a part in covering it up following an alleged illegal investigation.
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