It appears that President Cyril Ramaphosa might change his mind about resigning with a source saying members of his faction succeeded in convincing him to stay. On Thursday he was reportedly on the verge of resigning amid the Phala Phala farm scandal report.

Ramaphosa’s toying with the idea of resigning as the country’s President came after the independent panel which investigated his role in the Phala Phala farm robbery scandal concluded that there may be grounds for Parliament to institute impeachment proceedings against him.

According to sources within Ramaphosa’s inner circle, members of his faction in the ANC were on Thursday able to convince him to stay.

“He was concerned that the public could perceive him as not putting the interests of the country first if he did not resign. However, what became clear during our discussions with him is that the panel never made any findings against him. The panel’s findings were speculative in nature and as such cannot be regarded as conclusions.

“He was also advised that his resignation has the potential to plunge the country into a crisis as the ANC currently doesn’t have any proper succession plan in place,” the source said.

After the consultations, it was then agreed that the ANC national executive committee (NEC) which on Friday was to be locked in a meeting where the panel report was the main item on the agenda, should be given space to decide on his fate.

The highest decision-making structure between conferences, the NEC has the power to recall Ramaphosa.

While Ramaphosa’s opponents, including Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and former ANC Parliament chief whip, Tony Yengeni, have indicated that they want him to step down, it remains unclear whether they will get enough support among the members of the NEC.

Should the NEC resolve that Ramaphosa should stay, the party leadership structure could resolve that the panel’s report should be challenged in court.

In the event of Parliament activating impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa, his supporters within the ANC were of the view that the party had sufficient numbers in the National Assembly to block his impeachment.

“Two thirds of Parliament’s MPs have to vote against him for him to be removed. There is no way in which the opposition parties can get those kind of numbers,” an NEC member who is part of the Ramaphosa faction said.