South Africa's National Assembly on Monday delayed by a week a keenly watched parliamentary vote that could lead to President Cyril Ramaphosa's impeachment, the speaker announced Monday.
"We all agree to the 13th (of December)," Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula said during a late-night urgent meeting of the parliament's programming committee.
The postponement was unanimously agreed to allow time for lawmakers to travel to Cape Town to physically sit and vote manually.
Parliament had been set on Tuesday to debate a damning report by an independent panel probing allegations that Ramaphosa concealed a huge cash theft at his farm.
The three investigators questioned the source of the cash and said Ramaphosa "may have committed" serious violations and misconduct.
The delayed debate is a step that could lead to a vote on whether to impeach Ramaphosa.
To initiate an impeachment vote would require a simple majority in the National Assembly, where the ANC has 230 out of 400 seats. The impeachment vote itself would need a two-thirds majority to succeed.
Ramaphosa earlier Monday filed a petition to the Constitutional Court seeking to have the investigative report "reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside", according to papers made available to the media by his spokesman.
Ramaphosa also asked for any possible impeachment process to be blocked, saying "any steps taken by the National Assembly pursuant to the report are equally unlawful and invalid".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
