Should Ramaphosa be impeached over ‘Farmgate’?

• Published date: 10 June 2022
• Publication title: Mercury

Equally, Ramaphosa’s response to the complaint is emblematic of the corrupt and highly ill-disciplined executive branch, which thrives on lies, evasion and the self-delusion that he is the messiah we all deserve

According to Fraser, suspects acting in cahoots with Ramaphosa’s domestic worker stole money from the president’s farm in February 2020. The amount was estimated to be between $4 million (about R61m) and $8m.

These were the proceeds from wild animals that had been sold as part of the president’s game-selling business. Ramaphosa reportedly “instructed Major-General (Wally) Rhoode to immediately investigate the incident, to apprehend the suspects and to retrieve the stolen US dollars”. He did not report the crime to the police officials in the jurisdiction where the farm is located.

According to Fraser, Ramaphosa concealed the crime from both the police and SA Revenue Service and engaged in violations of our anti-corruption statutes.

Ramaphosa has responded with a series of bizarre denials and self-incriminating statements. He claimed “there is no basis for the claims of criminal conduct ... against me in Mr Fraser’s statement”.

Further, the “Presidency can confirm that a robbery took place at the president’s farm in Limpopo on or around February 9, 2020, in which proceeds from the sale of game were stolen”. Indeed Ramaphosa’s response is festooned with legal landmines likely to torpedo his ambitions for re-election at the December 2022 ANC electoral conference, and may possibly lead to his impeachment.

In the “Nkandla judgment” the Constitutional Court waxed lyrical about the role and tasks of the president of the republic when it said that, among others, “the president is uniquely positioned, empowered and resourced to do much more than other public office-bearers can do”.

Ramaphosa’s alleged conduct falls woefully short of the constitutional obligation to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution. For starters, Ramaphosa’s confession to attendees at the ANC Limpopo provincial conference that he moonlights as “a farmer” who buys and sells animals for profit is a clear violation of Section 96(2) of the Constitution.

That section states that the president, his Cabinet and deputy ministers may not: “(a) undertake any other paid work; (b) act in any way that is inconsistent with their oath of office, or expose themselves to any situation involving the risk of a conflict between their official responsibilities and private interests; or (c) use their...