Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya has said that President Cyril Ramaphosa “will gladly step aside” if he were to be charged with any crime.

Magwenya said this over the weekend, as calls for the president to step aside mounted amid the Phala Phala farm theft scandal.

The scandal erupted in June after South Africa’s former spy chief Arthur Fraser filed a complaint with the police alleging robbers broke into the president’s farm in the northeast of the country.

There, they stole $4 million in cash stashed in furniture.

Fraser alleged that Ramaphosa hid the robbery from the authorities and instead organised for the robbers to be kidnapped and bribed into silence.

The president has acknowledged a burglary but denies kidnapping and bribery, saying he reported the break-in to the police.

He has also disputed the amount of money involved, explaining it came from legitimate sales of game from his animal-breeding farm.

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