South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Monday that he would not resign despite the establishment of an impeachment commission tasked with reviewing allegations that he committed a serious offense by concealing the theft of more than half a million dollars in cash, which had been hidden in a sofa at his hunting ranch.
In a televised address to the nation, Mr. Ramaphosa said he would legally challenge a parliamentary report that found credible evidence of wrongdoing on his part, a move that could significantly delay any possible impeachment proceedings against him.
He has been the subject of calls from various quarters, particularly from opposition parties, asking him to resign from his position while these procedures take place.
His announcement came hours after the South African Parliament said it would set up an impeachment committee, in line with a ruling last week by the country's highest court that the report should be passed on to an impeachment committee.
"I therefore respectfully wish to clarify that I will not resign," Ramaphosa said on Monday.
His decision follows a ruling issued Friday by the Constitutional Court, which found that a 2022 parliamentary vote blocking the impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa in connection with the scandal was unconstitutional.
At the time of the vote, Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) held a majority in Parliament. The vote took place despite an independent report that highlighted irregularities on the part of the president, who allegedly failed to properly report the theft to the police and attempted to keep the investigation to recover the money secret.
The Constitutional Court stated last week that, in accordance with procedure, the 2022 independent report should have been forwarded to an impeachment committee for further investigation.
The removal of the leader of Africa's largest economy would require the support of at least two-thirds of the members of Parliament, which has 400 members, according to the Constitution.
The multi-party impeachment committee must still conduct an investigation before any steps are taken to hold an impeachment vote. No deadline was set for this in Parliament's statement on Monday.
The allegations against Ramaphosa were first made by a former head of South Africa's state security agency, who turned himself in to a police station in 2022 and accused the president of money laundering and other offenses related to the stolen sum. It emerged that the theft had taken place in 2020 and had been kept secret.
Ramaphosa denied any wrongdoing and stated that the money—in US dollars—came from the legitimate sale of buffaloes on his ranch. However, questions were raised about the source of the money and why it had been hidden in a sofa.
The independent 2022 report indicated that there was "legitimate doubt" about the origin of the money, as well as evidence suggesting that the amount was higher than the $580,000 claimed by Ramaphosa.
It also indicated that Ramaphosa had used the head of his presidential protection unit and others to try to "surreptitiously" locate the suspects.
