By Ebi Kesiena
The political future of President Cyril Ramaphosa hung in the balance on Friday, as South Africans wondered whether he would cling to power or resign over accusations that he sought to cover up a burglary at his farm.
On Thursday, the 70-year-old head of state was rumoured to be close to stepping down in the face of calls to quit but by early Friday, the pendulum seemed to have swung the other way as allies urged him to fight on.
The paramount body of the African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, scheduled emergency talks over the deep and divisive crisis.
The ANC “has never been at a crossroad or been incapable of finding a solution to any matter,” Zizi Kodwa, a senior party official and a deputy minister of state security, told reporters outside the venue in Johannesburg.
The rand recovered some ground against the dollar after a sharp drop on Thursday following publication of a report from an independent commission into the scandal.
Ramaphosa has been under fire since June, when a former spy boss filed a complaint with police, alleging he had concealed the theft of a cash haul at his farm at Phala Phala in northeastern South Africa.
Instead of alerting the authorities, he allegedly organised for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed into silence.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing and on Friday had a wave of support from within and outside the party.
Ramaphosa ally, told AFP, while a party executive said “top ANC people don’t want him to leave.”
The influential head of the Anglican Church also pleaded for the president to stay on.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, who succeeded Desmond Tutu, said “No one should be above the law, but to pass final judgement on a person based on what is in effect a board of preliminary investigation, which has not made a final determination of the facts, could lead to lawlessness in South Africa,”
