South Africa holds its breath as the ANC and alliance partners try to figure out what on earth to do about the recommendation to impeach President Cyril Ramaphosa. South Africa is now caught up in its third presidential game of musical chairs in 14 years.
A parliamentary debate would be followed by a vote – possibly by secret ballot or an open roll call – in a decision to be taken on the day.
That impeachment committee would ultimately have to make a decision after, among other things, public hearings that could include Ramaphosa as a witness. If it decided against removing the President, that would be the end of it. If it decided in favour of Ramaphosa’s impeachment, that decision would go to the National Assembly, where it would need a two-thirds majority to succeed.
This moment has been described as “unprecedented and extraordinary” in South Africa’s constitutional democracy.It is a first – the parliamentary impeachment rules came into force only in November 2018 after the EFF went all the way to the Constitutional Court to get them in place. Baleka Mbete, then the Speaker of the National Assembly, received both their resignations. Though the Constitution does not expressly speak of presidential resignations – Section 88 only talks of a presidential term ending “upon a vacancy” – telling Parliament is key because the National Assembly must, according to Section 86, elect a president from its ranks.
If Ramaphosa is considering resigning, it would be an unprecedented self-initiated step, rather than a party recall. The permutations could be numerous – and complicated. The 2022 ANC Nasrec elective conference is just two weeks away, and Ramaphosa cannot be 100% certain of his support in the ANC NEC. Perhaps because of his narrow 2017 Nasrec conference win, it’s been mutable throughout his time at the helm of the governing party.
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