Yesterday, a former Lieutenant Commander in the SA Navy, Sylvester Mangolele was expelled from the SANDF in 2018 due to misconduct. In a video posted on social media, he threatened to oust Ramaphosa within 48 hours if he didn't resign in person at the Naval College. Mangolele accused Ramaphosa of constitutional violations, asserting his actions were in defense of the country and its people.

Mangolele also proclaimed himself the next president of South Africa, declaring that the incumbent president, being in violation of his essential constitutional duties, had an imperative to present himself for tribunal at Gordon’s Bay.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) distanced itself from Sylvester Mangolele's remarks urging President Ramaphosa's removal. The SANDF disapproves of Mangolele's statements, emphasizing they do not represent the military, and condemned his remarks with contempt.

Mangolele was technical and support and services manager of the navy’s systems support centre, and was dismissed in 2018 due to misconduct and was evicted from his Simon's Town base home. Mangolele suggested he was the victim of a witch-hunt, after he compiled a report in 2016 suggesting that the maritime force can save millions of Rands by insourcing work currently delegated to private contractors.

Mangolele was tasked with conducting an internal investigation into the refitting of a workshop at the Wingfield Naval Stores Depot, which was published on August 12 2016. Mangolele found that the department would need to cut costs before incurring further expenditures, and that the outsourcing of surveying, repairs and maintenance of stored items should have not been undertaken, as it was the duty of the General Naval Workshops unit.

He claimed the Navy was being exploited by private contractors, and used the example of a Hyundai Grand i10, which was sent in to repair a broken rear windscreen and a cracked mirror, but took six months to return, at exhorbitant cost. A further example was of another item stored awaiting approval of a government order of approximately R200 000 for repair by an outsourced company.

"This amount is sufficient to cater for an annual salary of a handy- man and would cost less than R30 000 if the SA Navy had the capabilities to repair it.[...] If the SA Navy had the capability to repair vehicles, this vehicle would have only spent a minimum of a week in our workshop." he states in the report, arguing that the dock at Simon's Town is responsible for maintenance of all naval vessels, but is only operating at 80% of its capacity.

He was subsequently charged with four counts of failing to perform regimental duties, and one count of making a false entry on an official document. He claimed these charges were frivolous, and an attempt to get rid of him.

The navy’s head of maritime strategy‚ David Mkhonto‚ allegedly attacked Mangolele with his knobkerrie when confronting him over the issue, for which Mkhonto faced charges of his own.