Phala Phala: ANC NEC meeting postponed as Motlanthe rules out returning as president

The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting has been postponed to Friday to discuss the Phala Phala report.

The virtual meeting was scheduled for Thursday evening, but the NEC will now sit in person at Nasrec in Johannesburg.

Although ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe declined to answer questions from the media regarding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala saga, he confirmed that the meeting will take place from 11am.

“Give us time to deal with the matter,” Mabe said during a media briefing on Thursday.

ALSO READ: Phala Phala findings place Ramaphosa’s political career and future into ‘an immediate crisis’

The president is expected to address the nation “fairly soon”, according to Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

Ramaphosa has come under fire after a report by an independent panel, chaired by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, found the president may have committed serious violations of the constitution and anti-corruption laws.

The Section 89 the panel, therefore, concluded that Ramaphosa has a prima facie case to answer.

Parliament is set to consider and deliberate on the Phala Phala report next week Tuesday.

Motlanthe rules himself out

Amid fears that Ramaphosa will resign from office, former president Kgalema Motlanthe has expressed no interest in returning as the head of state.

“No, not at all… if you have flames and you put ash on top of them you’ve dowsed them. We are ash now; we are not anything but ash,” he said following the conclusion of a media briefing on Thursday.

Motlanthe had announced the list of ANC members who have been nominated to serve in the NEC at the Luthuli House in Johannesburg.

READ MORE: Dlamini-Zuma calls for Ramaphosa to step aside over damning Phala Phala report

Despite calls for his head from the opposition and some ANC members, Ramaphosa is doing well according to Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele.

Gungubele defended Ramaphosa on Thursday, saying the president had never broken any laws of the country and “he has demonstrated [this] all his life”.

The minister also said the preliminary evidence found by the panel did not mean that Ramaphosa was found guilty of any wrongdoing.

[JUST IN] Former state president Kgalema Motlanthe, says he would not consider going back to government.

“If you have flames and you put ash on top of them – you douse them,” he says. “We are ash now.”@ewnreporter pic.twitter.com/BNE0QLOsjl

— Thabiso Goba (@ThabisoGoba2) December 1, 2022

Early election?

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced that it will table a motion in Parliament for a vote on the dissolution of the government, which may result in an early election.

“I will table this motion in the National Assembly, and I will call on all members of the House, regardless of party or affiliation, to support it so that we can urgently close this chapter of corruption and get back to dealing with our country’s many challenges,” said DA leader John Steenhuisen in a media briefing on Thursday.

Steenhuisen said it was “clear and unambiguous that President Ramaphosa most likely did breach several constitutional provisions and had a case to answer”.

NOW READ: Call for secret ballot when Parliament votes on Phala Phala report