The rand went into free fall on Thursday afternoon as the country awaited the fate of President Cyril Ramaphosa, following the release of a report on the Phala Phala scandal.
In afternoon trade the rand extended losses, falling by the most since June 2020, when the country was in the midst of the hard Covid-19 lockdown. At 3.35pm it had weakened 3.66% to R17.85/$, 4.55% to R18.72/€ and 5% to R21.81/£.
Ramaphosa is planning to address the country as he faces the possibility of stepping aside, according to a senior adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The president faces possible impeachment over the damning findings of the Section 89 panel into the theft at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
A report from the independent parliamentary panel, headed by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, found that Ramaphosa may have broken some of the country's anticorruption laws.
The findings have dampened his chances of being re-elected as ANC leader at the party’s national elective conference in December.
Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing in the matter and is expected to meet the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) on Thursday evening, where he will take the party into his confidence regarding the way forward.
His spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, confirmed to Business Day that the president would speak to the country regarding the matter, but did not indicate when the address would be.
Business Day understands that on Thursday afternoon, Ramaphosa — who cancelled all public engagements following the release of the report on Wednesday night — held a meeting with his allies in the ANC and closest political advisers, where he informed them that he was not opposed to stepping down over the “farmgate” scandal.
Ramaphosa was also considering calling a cabinet meeting regarding over the matter, according to people familiar with the matter.
“If Ramaphosa resigns, [the] conference will be a free-for-all for all the other candidates,” said an NEC member sympathetic to Ramaphosa.
“The president will not resign. He is just saying he is not opposed to resigning,” said another NEC member.
“This things stinks, and its indefensible. If he survives today he will he surviving for the sake of surviving,” said another NEC member.
Ramaphosa is probably anticipating a heated NEC meeting where his detractors are likely to ask him to step aside. However, it is also noteworthy the ANC NEC only made a decision to recall former presidents Thabo Mbeki in 2008 and Jacob Zuma in 2018 after their term as party leader ended. On both Mbeki and Zuma, the ANC NEC felt it could not remove an elected leader.
What has changed since then is that the ANC has cracked the whip on leaders facing serious criminal charges and has, on several occasions, forced leaders including former health minister Zweli Mkhize to step aside, even though Mkhize had not yet been charged.
The fallout of the Section 89 panel is the only agenda item for Thursday’s NEC meeting, according to ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe.
Minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubelele, who is regarded as a Ramaphosa ally, said on Thursday during a post-cabinet media briefing that the president should be allowed time to process the report.
“It is not coming for the first time,” Gungubelele said referring to the calls by some NEC members, including co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
“It has been ongoing. To us, it is not new, but […] the president says he is studying the findings and will make a pronouncement in due course. And we strongly call on South Africans to actually await that,” he said.
SACP national spokesperson Alex Mashilo said his party would process the current development at its central committee meeting at the weekend before commenting.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.