South Africa: President Ramaphosa plays down risk of impeachment

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has played down the threat of impeachment over accusations that he attempted to cover up a multi-million-dollar cash theft at his luxury cattle farmhouse.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of a state visit to the United Kingdom, Ramaphosa also discusses his government's response to ongoing power cuts in his home country and praises the new vision for the Commonwealth of King Charles III.

The scandal erupted in June when South Africa’s former national spy boss filed a complaint with the police alleging that robbers broke into Phala Phala and stole $4m in cash stashed in furniture at the president’s farm in the northeast of the country.

It alleged that Ramaphosa hid the robbery from the authorities and instead organised for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed into silence. The scandal is believed to pose a threat to Ramaphosa’s bid for a second term as president of the African National Congress (ANC) as the ruling party heads to contested internal polls in December.

Ramaphosa’s office responded in written answers in testimony to a parliamentary panel on Sunday, November 6 that he has always made it a point “to abide by his oath of office and set an example in his respect for the constitution”.