South Africa President Ramaphosa's 'Farmgate' raises tough questions for his future

The future of South Africa's president looks grim as many, including the opposition leaders, have asked for his resignation after a condemning report was submitted to Parliament mentioned that he may have been involved in the 'Farmgate' scandal. Cyril Ramaphosa might face impeachment if proven guilty of breaking an anti-corruption law. The opposition, the Democratic Alliance has appealed to Cyril Ramaphosa to step down and dissolve the government followed by early elections, which are scheduled for the year 2024 as of now. 

The complaint against Ramaphosa was filed by a former South African spy boss, Arthur Fraser who accused him of covering up a $4 million theft from his own farm in 2020, including kidnapping and bribing burglars into silence. The meeting was scheduled for Thursday but was postponed by the A.N.C.’s national executive committee for Friday, December 2. A senior lecturer in politics at the University of Pretoria, Sithembile Mbete said that South Africa's president is in a "very, very terrible position". Amid these tensions in South Africa, will the country call for early elections? 

Cyril Ramaphosa scam calls for early elections 

While denying the allegations, President Ramaphosa has submitted a 138-page submission to the panel which said that it was from the proceeds of buffalo sold for $580,000 in cash to a Sudanese national, Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim, in late 2019. However, there is no public statement released from Hazim yet, reported BBC. Meanwhile, his party has been working on how to handle the report, party sources have told the BBC. Some of them have opposed ANC's corrupt leader Ramaphosa and want him to step down, whereas others have adopted a wait-and-see approach. 

The Democratic Alliance announced to use of parliament's sitting next week to put forward a motion calling for early elections and said that ANC must be removed from power. In a statement, the Democratic Alliance party said, "The report is clear and unambiguous. President Ramaphosa most likely did breach a number of Constitutional provisions and has a case to answer. Impeachment proceedings into his conduct must go ahead, and he will have to offer far better, more comprehensive explanations than we have been given so far," reported BBC. The three-volume report presented to the parliament has mainly raised questions about Ramaphosa's written submission:

• Why did the president have some $580,000 stored inside a sofa?
• Why was the theft of that money not reported to the police two years ago?
• Why do the buffalo he says were sold remain on the farm?

Ramaphosa justified that "a lodge manager at the farm first stored the money in a safe, but later moved it to a sofa in a spare bedroom inside my private residence because he thought it was the safest place, as he believed nobody would break into the president's house," reported BBC

However, the panel and opposition have believed that this explanation needs further investigation. Ultimately everything depends on the votes, if the MPs have decided to proceed with further investigation by an impeachment committee and found the president guilty then an impeachment vote process would be set in motion which needs a two-thirds majority in parliament to pass.