Parliament names panel to weigh Ramaphosa removal

South Africa’s former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo will head an independent panel that will recommend whether or not to initiate a process to impeach President Cyril Ramaphosa after allegations that he concealed a burglary at his farm.

Ngcobo, Thokozile Masipa, a former judge of the Gauteng Division of the High Court and Richard Calland, associate professor of public law at the University of Cape Town, were appointed to the panel on Wednesday by Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, parliament said in a statement.

The panel will start its work on a date to be determined after administrative processes have been concluded, parliament said in the statement.

The decision comes as Ramaphosa is under pressure from opposition parties to step aside over the burglary two years ago at a game farm he owns. He has refused to answer opposition lawmakers’ questions about the incident, in which the nation’s former spy boss said $4 million was stolen.