On Thursday night Ramaphosa's allies were having a measure of success in convincing him to refrain from resigning as President and to fight attempts to remove him from office.  

News24 reports that he was told that he was surrounded by "fighters" and that retaining state and party leadership was worth the effort.

According to News24, Ramaphosa veered from accepting that he would have to resign, to retreating to listen to representations from allies.

Resignation speech put on hold 

A written resignation speech was put on hold after the president was apparently told to "fight, fight, fight".

He was told what the consequences could be for the country and party if individuals, allied with the broad Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction of the ANC, were to ascend to the Presidency, and was given the assurance that many senior ANC figures were ready to defend him. 

For most of Thursday, Ramaphosa told those around him that he would resign in the best interest of South Africa. This was after he was advised that a legal challenge to a report by the Section 89 panel would be ill-fated.

Ramaphosa's lawyers told him there was no guarantee of success if he took the report, by a panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, on review - and that he would be subjected to a "public trial" during a Section 89 impeachment hearing, while he (Ramaphosa) suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane when she had to face a similar hearing.

"Political survival still possible"

Despite the report, they argued that his political survival was still possible.  

A close Ramaphosa ally said: "There is no reason he must rush into a decision. He can apply his mind, and when the decision is taken, everything is factored into. He was told to fight. That report is flimsy and he cannot just leave." 

The President spent much of Thursday at his Fresnaye home in Cape Town in virtual meetings and calls. 

On Thursday evening, Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said an announcement by Ramaphosa was still imminent.

"The president has to indicate to the nation what his next course of action would be. All options are on the table, but what is important is not so much the merits or the demerits of a particular option. What is important is choosing a path or a route that first and foremost is in the interest of the country," he said.

"Stability of country will guide Ramaphosa"

Magwenya said the stability of the country and that of the government would guide Ramaphosa.

Asked if Ramaphosa was resigning, Magwenya said: "I can't talk about a specific option, that would be misleading and create the wrong impression that he is looking at an option. He is looking at a number of options. What is important here is that it is not about what option is best for him.

"It is about what course of action he takes that is in the best interest of the country. That cannot be a process that is conducted in haste."

Magwenya continued: "It's not something he can decide based on emotion. It is something he has to carefully consider in the interest of the country. If there is the option of consulting with and getting the benefit of counsel and advice from his colleagues in the ANC and other interested parties, then he must get the benefit of that counsel.

Ramaphosa accused of "paid work outside his duties"

Magwenya said the notion that Ramaphosa did not have confidence in the ANC parliamentary caucus was simply not true.

The independent panel, led by Ngcobo and appointed by Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, made damning findings against Ramaphosa in relation to the theft at his Phala Phala farm.

He failed to convince the panel that he had acted in accordance with the law and the Constitution after the burglary and theft and could face an impeachment investigation by lawmakers.

The four charges include three instances in which Ramaphosa violated the Constitution for continuing to be engaged in paid work outside his duties as a member of Cabinet and for acting inconsistently with his office by asking his head of security, Major-General Wally Rhoode, to investigate the matter.

Parliament to vote on Tuesday on Section 89 report

MPs are expected to vote on Tuesday on whether or not to adopt the report.

Ramaphosa's resignation would have meant his deputy, David Mabuza, would act as President until the ANC elected a new president. 

A resignation would have meant that Rampahosa would not seek a second term at the party's elective conference, set to begin on 16 December 2022. 

While some ANC leaders and opposition leaders touted the possibility of former president Kgalema Motlanthe stepping in as a "caretaker president", he ruled that out during a briefing at Luthuli House. 

Motlanthe won't be "caretaker president" 

In a media huddle at the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Thursday, Motlanthe described any possibility of his returning to the government as equivalent to pouring ashes on a burning fire.

On whether he would entertain any possibility of a return, he said: "No, not at all. If you have flames and you put ash on top of them, you've doused them. We are ash now, we are not anything but ash."

News24