South African President Escapes Impeachment

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa has successfully escaped a parliamentary vote on whether he should face an impeachment inquiry.

The movement was to approve the controversial Phala Phala report and begin  a full investigation into its findings against Mr Ramaphosa.

This was easily defeated on Tuesday at the 400-member National Assembly, by 214 votes to 148.

A total of 201 MPs was what was needed to pass the movement brought by the African Transformation Party for the parliament to approve it.

The four ANC MPs who voted in favour of the motion were Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Mervyn Dirks, Mosebenzi Zwane and Supra Mahumapelo. Several more ANC politicians who participated in a debate in advance of the vote were absent when the ballots were cast.

After the votes were cast, the leader of South Africa’s main opposition, the Democratic Alliance Party, described the ANC’s decision to back its leader as “a pyrrhic victory” for the former liberation movement. “It has shattered the myth around the party’s so-called renewal,” John Steenhuisen had said in a statement.

He added, “Today South Africans were left in no doubt that the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa is no different to the presidency of Jacob Zuma, and that both men would not hesitate to damage and weaken parliament in order to evade scrutiny and the law.”