No enough votes to impeach South Africa president

By Mogomotsi Magome, JOHANNESBURG South Africa

South Africa’s parliament voted against starting impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over a report that says he held undeclared foreign currency at his farm in 2020.

The lawmakers voted 214 to 148 against the move to impeach Ramaphosa. 

The ruling African National Congress party, which holds a majority in the parliament, largely stood with Ramaphosa, preventing the motion from getting the two-thirds vote needed to proceed with impeachment.

Four ANC members of parliament, however, showed their opposition to Ramaphosa by voting in favor of impeachment and a few more did not show up for the vote.

The crucial vote came after a damning parliamentary report alleged that Ramaphosa illegally hid at least $580,000 in cash in a sofa at his Phala Phala game ranch. It said he did not report the theft of the money to the police in order to avoid questions over how he got the foreign currency and why he had not declared it to authorities.

The report has brought Ramaphosa’s opponents — opposition parties and even rivals within his ANC party — to call for him to step down.

At least four ANC lawmakers broke ranks with the party line and voted along with the opposition parties in favor of the impeachment process, including Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, currently a minister in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet and high-ranking ANC leader.