Johannesburg (AFP) - The top leaders of South Africa’s ruling party went into talks on Monday to discuss the fate of embattled President Cyril Ramaphosa on the eve of a parliamentary vote that could lead to his impeachment.

Ramaphosa insisted at the weekend that he would not resign after a special panel reported on an alleged coverup of a cash robbery at his farm, but his political future remains uncertain.

On Monday morning the president arrived at the venue where the African National Congress’ highest body – the National Executive Committee (NEC) – was meeting to discuss the crisis. He left shortly afterwards, smiling and waving to the media.

ANC spokesman Pule Mabe said the president was recused from the meeting, in line with standard practice for a person under discussion.

“We convened the meeting because we want to seek the wisdom of the collective,” said Mabe.

Forged by Nelson Mandela into the weapon that led the fight against apartheid, the ANC has been deeply divided by the affair, but after a pendulum swing a majority now seems be backing the president.

The country marked the ninth anniversary of Mandela’s death on Monday.

“In remembering him we are going to make sure that the (NEC meeting) concludes being united,” said Mabe.

A small group of demonstrators, some supporting the president, others calling for him to go, gathered outside the meeting in the Johannesburg area of Nasrec.

“The right thing is to tell Cyril Ramaphosa that he must step down,” said ANC member Carl Niehaus, 63, a former spokesman to Mandela and critic of his successor.

He wore an ANC T-shirt and holding a framed sign reading “Ramaphosa must go”.

But Ramaphosa supporter Maropeng Serakwana, 40, warned against any leap to judgement.

Ramaphosa “must be treated fairly like any other citizen in this country,” he said.

The bombshell report was submitted last week to parliament, which will debate it on Tuesday – a step that could lead to a vote on forcing Ramaphosa from office.

For him to be forced out, two-thirds of the assembly must vote in favour of the removal motion. The ANC has 230 out of 400 seats.

- ‘Phala Phala’ -

The scandal has become known as the Phala Phala affair, named after Ramaphosa’s farm in the northeast of the country.

It began in June, when South Africa’s former spy boss filed a complaint with the police alleging that Ramaphosa had concealed the theft of a huge haul of cash from the farm.

He accused the president of having organised for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed into silence.

Ramaphosa, in submissions to the three-person investigative panel, denied any wrongdoing.

He said the cash – more than half a million dollars, stashed beneath sofa cushions – was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman.

But his explanations did not convince the panel, which raised questions about the source of the cash and said he “may have committed” serious violations and misconduct.

A police inquiry is ongoing, but he has not so far been charged with any crime.

The scandal comes at the worst possible time for Ramaphosa.

On December 16, he will contest elections for the ANC presidency – a position that also holds the key to staying on as the nation’s president.

A former mine union president who made a fortune in business in post-apartheid era, Ramaphosa came to office in 2018 riding on a graft-free image after the corruption-tainted presidency of Jacob Zuma.

- ‘Flawed’ report -

In his weekly newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa did not address the scandal directly, but flaunted the government’s anti-corruption work.

“Now that we see that progress is being made, we must do everything we can to ensure that this work continues unhindered,” he wrote.

His spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, on Saturday said Ramaphosa would not resign on the basis of a “flawed” report and would contest the document in court.

Julius Malema, an ex-ANC youth leader and now opposition Economic Freedom Fighters president called for Ramaphosa to “be arrested – he committed crime, he committed corruption.”

But the ANC’s overwhelming majority in the National Assembly means that it is not even certain that parliament will vote to launch the procedure of removal.

As well as Ramaphosa, some legal experts have outlined flaws in the report.

They argue that without recourse to the ongoing criminal investigation, the document is based largely on hearsay, Ramaphosa’s statements and the initial complaint lodged by an opponent of the president.