Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa says there is no plot whatsoever to get rid of his deputy, Paul Mashatile.
The president’s comments follow after Mashatile in an interview with City Press said in so many words that there is a plot to get rid of him as deputy president.
“I had a conversation with the deputy president and told him: ‘I appointed you and I am the only person who can stand in your way.
“There is no thought, no plan, and no indication whatsoever that something like this is being planned,” Ramaphosa said on Sunday.
Mashatile says in the City Press-interview he is aware of a conspiracy to have him removed from office. However, he refuses to name any names, but says he knows that the alleged conspirators want him gone as soon as next month.
However, Ramaphosa insists there is no truth in the claim.
Ramaphosa appointed Mashatile as his deputy in April this year after Ramaphosa was re-elected president of the ANC in December.
“I will have to read my own head to appoint and then remove a deputy president, because I am the only one who can remove him – unless the party decides so and then does it,” says Ramaphosa.
Damning allegations against Mashatile have started making headlines in recent weeks; first allegations about his close links with alleged state builders and then the incident on the N1 highway involving members of Mashatile’s presidential protection unit.
However, Mashatile says that since last year there have been plans to keep him out of the Union Building.
