By Neelam Rahim

President Cyril Ramaphosa is under fire as the crisis following the secret robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo is deepening. Opposition parties demand that Ramaphosa step aside while the allegations around the theft of a large sum of money from his farm are being investigated.

Ramaphosa also appeared in front of the ANC Integrity Commission after he volunteered to explain allegations that he had covered up the theft. What does this mean for the ANC and the country?

Radio Islam speaks to veteran political reporter Carien du Plessis.

“I think the allegations against Ramahosa are severe. Many unanswered questions have been asked in the past week. More importantly, the question of why he found the need to stash all those dollars in the furniture of his private game farm. And whether he is guilty of tax invasion. EFF leader Julius Malema has even accused him of money laundering, which reflects badly on him because he has been championing the fight against corruption and portraying the image of a cleaner government. In a way, he seems to be the same as the people he has been campaigning against, so it’s going to be very difficult for him to come clean on this,” says Carien. 

President Ramaphosa’s response has not been reassuring or politically strategic. He doesn’t seem to be answering the critical questions even though there is no legal reason for him to do it, but politically, it would have been a much better situation for him. 

Carien says, “I think Ramaphosa will do things to deflect the attention away from the situation from what has happened there. I’ve already seen a campaign where news spread by people sympathetic to him saying that our former President was accused of stealing money and our current President was robbed and has been accused. They try to portray him as a victim rather than as a perpetrator. There is some strategic spinning going on there as Ramaphosa will be slow in responses to allow time for the story to die down. I also think it’s nice to have a president who tries to seem transparent rather than going into hiding.”

It is fair to call for the President to step aside, although perhaps it might be too early. The authorities should investigate this case, and if the allegations become damming against the President, it’ll be fair to say he should step aside,” says Carien.