President Ramaphosa escapes impeachment vote

President Cyril Ramaphosa has survived an impeachment vote in the National Assembly.

Despite dissension brewing in the ANC ranks ahead of Tuesday’s crunch vote, not enough members of the governing party were willing to support the opposition’s motion.

The ATM’s motion was defeated by 214 votes to 148, with two abstentions.

This comes four days before the ANC’s national conference, where Ramaphosa is contesting to remain the party’s president, with disgraced former health minister Zweli Mkhize his biggest challenger.

Tuesday’s vote followed an independent panel, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, which found that Ramaphosa had a prima facie case to answer regarding the theft of foreign currency stuffed in a couch at his game farm, Phala Phala.

Ramaphosa failed to convince the panel that, after the burglary, he had acted in accordance with the law and the Constitution.