President Cyril Ramaphosa. DA has nominated three retired judges to serve on Section 89 Parliamentary Inquiry panel. Photograph: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)
Rustenburg – The DA has nominated three retired judges to serve on the Section 89 Parliamentary Inquiry panel which will conduct a preliminary inquiry for an impeachment process concerning President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal.
The panel will consider whether there is prima facie evidence for Parliament to institute an impeachment process in accordance to Section 89 of the Constitution – the first of its kind since the adoption of the rules a couple of years ago.
“Today (Wednesday) we submitted the names of retired judge Jeanette Traverso and retired justices Yvonne Makgoro and Dikgang Moseneke for the purposes of Rule 129D of the National Assembly rules.
“All three nominees have vast legal experience and would fully appreciate the role required by the Section 89 Panel and the need for its independence,” DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said.
“Following the flagrant disregard for the rules of Parliament in the plenary yesterday (Tuesday) by Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, it is clear that we need to ensure that we explore all parliamentary avenues available to hold the president accountable. The Speaker has shown that she’s determined to render Parliament useless and continue the carnage by some of her predecessors,” she said.
She said the disastrous parliamentary session on Tuesday reinforced the need for an ad hoc committee to investigate Ramaphosa and the extent to which state entities were alleged to have been abused.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa refused to answer a question on the 2020 robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
“We will continue fighting for this to happen,” she said.
“This panel will now be appointed by the Speaker in accordance with the rules. Following the appointments, the panel must make a recommendation to the Speaker and the House within 30 days. We will monitor this process closely.”
In June, the former head of the South African State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, opened a case with the police alleging that $4 million was stolen from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Farm in Limpopo.
He accused Ramaphosa of kidnapping, bribery, money laundering and concealing a crime.
IOL
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