South Africa’s parliament has appointed a three-member panel to assess whether there are grounds to impeach President Cyril Ramaphosa over the alleged cover-up of a robbery that took place at his farm in which millions of foreign currency was stolen.
National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Wednesday appointed former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo to lead the panel of law experts to determine whether Ramaphosa should be impeached over the alleged cover-up of the robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo province.
Other members of the panel are former Gauteng judge Thokozile Masipa and University of Cape Town public law professor Richard Calland.
Ramaphosa is being investigated for allegedly concealing the February 2020 robbery in which more than US$4 million was stolen.
It is alleged that he did not report the robbery to the police and sought to have the matter quietly dealt with since he had broken South Africa’s banking laws by not depositing the foreign currency.
The appointment of the three-member panel comes in the wake of a motion by African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula in which he requested parliament to initiate an inquiry into Ramaphosa’s removal from office.
The speaker made the selection from 17 nominees recommended by political parties represented in the National Assembly.
JN/APA