By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African lawmakers will vote Tuesday to impeach President Cyril Ramaphosa over a report that he had undeclared foreign currency on his farm in 2020.
The vote comes after a damning parliamentary report alleged that Ramaphosa illegally hid at least $580,000 worth of coins on a couch at his Phala Phala gambling ranch. He said he did not report the theft of the coins to police to avoid questions about how he received the foreign currency and why he did not report it to authorities.
The report prompted Ramaphosa’s warring parties, opposition parties and even rivals within his ruling African National Congress party, to call on him to step down.
Lawmakers will want a two-thirds majority to release impeachment proceedings opposing Ramaphosa, which is unlikely since his ANC party backed him last week. The ANC holds 230 of the 400 seats in parliament, so the ruling party can block any attempt to start impeachment proceedings.
The ANC said its lawmakers would oppose indicting Ramaphosa, saying it would vote against approving the report.
The parliamentary vote comes in a week in which Ramaphosa will fight for his political life as he seeks re-election as leader of the ANC at its national convention that begins in Johannesburg on Friday.
The convention will also elect members of the party’s National Executive Committee, which is the party’s decision-making body.
Ramaphosa will have to be re-elected as leader of the ANC to run for a moment as president of South Africa in 2024.