NATIONAL NEWS - Following the release of the much-anticipated Phala Phala report, opposition parties yesterday called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down.
The report compiled by the Section 89 Independent Panel was handed over to National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Wednesday.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the only option South Africans were left with was for a majority of 50% +1 of the National Assembly to vote for the dissolution of government, which would then trigger an early election.
He said Section 50(1) of the Constitution made provision for situations like this, ‘where the President and his government have lost the mandate and legitimacy to govern, and a new mandate must be obtained from the people’.
Steenhuisen said the report was clear and unambiguous and he plans to call on all members of the National Assembly, regardless of party or affiliation, to support his motion to vote for the dissolution of Parliament.
“President Ramaphosa most likely did breach a number of Constitutional provisions and has a case to answer. Impeachment proceedings into his conduct must go ahead, and he will have to offer far better, more comprehensive explanations than we have been given so far.
“The authors of the report clearly do not believe that President Ramaphosa’s explanation about the source of the hidden money was truthful, and they clearly believe that the president interfered with the investigation to keep it quiet.”
He said if Ramaphosa was recalled now, South Africans will end up with a ‘corrupt’ President David Mabuza and if he survives until the ANC elective conference but is defeated then, SA could end up with a ‘corrupt’ President Zweli Mkhize.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) said it felt there was no further need for Parliament to interrogate the matter given the recommendations of the panel adding that the balance of probabilities was sufficient; nothing more needs to be proved — he must leave his office without any further prompting.
UDM president Bantu Holomisa said South Africa cannot afford to have a president in office facing these serious indictments.
“The African National Congress must recall their deployee and the law enforcement agencies must follow up on the recommendations of the panel,” he said.
Sharing similar sentiments, the FF Plus leader Dr Pieter Groenewald said the evidence left Ramaphosa no other choice but to step down immediately.
“The findings leave no room for doubt that various criminal offences were possibly committed, and it brings into disrepute both the Office of the Presidency and the office of President.”
Groenewald said Parliament’s National Assembly must decide whether it will accept the report and take further steps by launching a Section 89 investigation.
“If the report is not adopted with a majority vote, it will mean that the ANC, which has the majority in the NA, is deliberately and directly undermining South Africa’s constitutional democracy.
“The panel’s findings raise the question of whether President Ramaphosa’s conduct is really any different from his predecessor’s, former president Jacob Zuma, when it comes to being open and honest with the people of South Africa.”
IFP National spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said they will vote in support of the adoption of the report by the House, as well as in support of the establishment of an impeachment committee when the panel report is considered by the National Assembly.
