Central SA
President Cyril Ramaphosa 'very likely' to resign─── 16:01 Thu, 01 Dec 2022
President Cyril Ramaphosa has lost the political support of the ANC and is "very likely" to announce his resignation as head of state in the next few hours.
Ramaphosa will also resign as president of the ANC and will pull out of the race to be re-elected in just over two weeks' time at Nasrec.
In accordance with the Constitution, Deputy President David Mabuza, a former premier of Mpumalanga, will step in as acting president until Parliament votes for a new president.
It is expected that whoever is elected as the next ANC president in mid-December will be sworn in as state president at a special sitting of Parliament at the end of the month.
The DA has tabled a motion, arguing for Parliament to be dissolved and for an early election to be held next year.
According to a source close to the talks, Ramaphosa did not need to be convinced of the case to resign. The insider said Ramaphosa argued that it was in the best interest of the stability of the country for him to quit.
"There is nothing we can do now," the source said.
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Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa's spokesperson, said the president would address the nation "soon". He said the president was still considering his options.
"The primary concern in the president's mind is the stability of the government and the country."
Ramaphosa has run out of options after a Section 89 panel, headed by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, found that he may have violated the Constitution and anti-corruption laws in his Phala Phala game farm dealings.
It is understood that the president's legal advisors told him that, although they took the view that the Ngcobo report was "full of contradictions, flaws and mistakes", chances of successfully challenging it in court were not guaranteed.
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"Which court will rule that a report by a former chief justice is irrational?" one source said.
Ramaphosa also does not want to put himself through a "public trial" in Parliament, in an impeachment hearing, while he was the one who suspended Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the Public Protector, to face a similar process.
Ramaphosa is a multi-billionaire who built his fortune outside of politics before being plucked back into the ANC's fold as former president Jacob Zuma's deputy in 2012.