South Africa's ANC meets over 'Farmgate' as Ramaphosa allies mount defence

ANC Treasurer General Paul Mashatile said no decision would be taken on Friday by the National Executive Committee, but that it would reconvene before Dec. 6 to discuss the report. Ramphosa's future has been in doubt since publication on Wednesday of a report by a panel of experts that investigated revelations that he kept millions of dollars in cash at his private game farm and failed to even report it missing when the money was stolen from the property in 2020.

Officials in South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) met on Friday to decide whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should stay on after an inquiry found evidence of misconduct, but they failed to reach a conclusion. ANC Treasurer General Paul Mashatile said no decision would be taken on Friday by the National Executive Committee, but that it would reconvene before Dec. 6 to discuss the report.

Ramphosa's future has been in doubt since publication on Wednesday of a report by a panel of experts that investigated revelations that he kept millions of dollars in cash at his private game farm and failed to even report it missing when the money was stolen from the property in 2020. The existence of the cash at the Phala Phala game farm and his failure to report the theft to police only surfaced in June.

Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime. The president has said the money was much less than the $4 million to $8 million reported, and that it was the proceeds of game sales at the farm. The media has dubbed the affair "Farmgate". (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks, Alexander Winning and Rachel Savage in Johannesburg and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town; editing by James Macharia Chege and Mark Heinrich)

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