JOHANNESBURG, Dec 15 (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be re-elected as leader this weekend after avoiding impeachment proceedings over a so-called “Farmgate” scandal involving millions of dollars discovered hidden on sofas on his personal farm. .
Delegates to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will meet in Johannesburg from Friday to Tuesday to decide on their candidate, traditionally the price ticket that makes a decision on who governs the country. The next national elections are scheduled for 2024.
If Ramaphosa loses, it could open the door to a rival faction of the ANC allied with former President Jacob Zuma. Zuma, who is being investigated for large-scale corruption, denies wrongdoing.
However, the party’s reaction has been overwhelmingly to rally the president and resist calls from opposition politicians for him to step down. The ANC on Tuesday halted the publication of impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa, with a majority of its lawmakers voting to reject an investigation report into alleged misconduct.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the scandal, dubbed “Farmgate” through the media, and has challenged the report in court. He has been charged with any crime, but some warring parties have called for his resignation.
If he survives, Ramaphosa will have to resurrect one who is less popular than at any time since Nelson Mandela led him to victory in the first South African elections in 1994, or threatens to squander his majority in parliament.
Last month, a panel of experts report uncovered initial evidence that he possibly violated the statute because of a foreign currency reserve hidden on his personal hunting farm.
The report is a blow to a guy who narrowly won his ANC appointment in 2017 on a promise to crack down on endemic corruption.
“Whatever happens to Ramaphosa. . . it will find that anti-corruption credibility increasingly difficult for it, even if it escapes the worst,” said Daniel Silke, director of Political Futures Consultancy.
Much of Ramaphosa’s political capital comes from the fact that his rivals are vaguely allied with Zuma, who is accused of diverting a vast public budget into the wallets of 3 Indian businessmen during his tenure between 2009 and 2018, fees he denies.
Among them is former fitness minister Zweli Mkhize, whom Ramaphosa fired from his workplace in June last year over allegations of corruption in COVID-19-related contracts with a communications company controlled by former partners.
Mkhize denies wrongdoing.
Ramaphosa leads the race so far, with 2,037 votes from nearly 4,000 ANC branches, to Zweli Mkize’s 916.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, minister and ex-wife of President Jacob Zuma, who narrowly lost to Ramaphosa at the last ANC convention; and Tourism Minister Lindiwe SiSulu qualified to be in the poll but can still do so if they get a quarter of the votes on the ground.
Farmgate erupted in June when former South African espionage leader Arthur Fraser told police that thieves raided Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala gaming farm in February 2020 and stole at least $4 million in foreign money discovered hidden in furniture.
The theft raised questions about how Ramaphosa acquired the cash and whether he declared it. Ramaphosa said a much smaller sum of cash had been stolen than reported and was the proceeds of game sales.
In addition to Farmgate, the ANC also faces growing discontent with unemployment, poor service delivery and chronic electricity shortages. Last year, it saw its share of votes fall below the share for the first time in municipal polls.
On Wednesday, the chief executive of electric power app Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, resigned, the eleventh boss to resign in more than a decade.
Despite presiding over those issues, Ramaphosa is still perceived as the ANC’s chance to revive its waning popularity.
“Is it weaker? Yes, but. . . the ANC wants it in 2024,” said analyst and political writer Ralph Mathekga.
“It’s still credible compared to what (more) there is. “
(Additional reporting by Catherine Schenck and Shafiek Tassiem; Edited by James Macharia Chege and