He will personally appear before the Parliamentary committee, which is considering the removal of President Cyril Ramaphosa, in the matter concerning the availability of US dollar quacks, at his Phala Phala farm, in Limpopo.
This was revealed by the Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Thoko Didiza, at a meeting to deliberate on policies affecting Parliament. He said the terms allow the president to appear before the committee, represented by his legal advisers.
“He will appear at the committee that is considering removing him from office as the terms of reference. He is allowed to appear with his lawyers,” he said.
This is what the chairman of the committee, Mr. Makashule Gana, said, saying that they want the committee to sit as soon as possible before Parliament changes. He said himself that he wants it to stay within this month as they continue with the work of the committee.
“We will only be prevented by the court from continuing the work of the committee. Apart from this, nothing else will stop us because even lawyers’ letters will not stop us,” said Gana.
Members of Parliament, including Mr. Mzwanele Manyi from the MKP party, have been adamant that Ramaphosa must appear before the committee to answer for himself. This proposal was also supported by Mr. Athol Trollip.
At yesterday’s Parliamentary agenda meeting, EFF member Ms. Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi, asked the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Masibulele Xaso, whether there was any disruption to the sitting of the committee that is considering Ramaphosa’s case.
“As far as I know, the work of this committee is going on, there are no interruptions. What I know is that there are two goals that have been returned to the goals committee so that they can discuss them in detail,” said Xaso.
Another thing that will be looked into by the policy committee is the issue of whether the people who are part of the committee looking into Ramaphosa’s case should be honest and unscrupulous people.
Members of Parliament were focused on this point, wanting to know what kind of person is supposed to be honest and clean to be able to be part of the committee because all members are sworn in by the chief justice.
The DA suggested that the person who is part of the committee investigating Ramaphosa’s case must be free of corruption. The complaint is about former judge Dr. John Hlophe being part of this committee, who is the first judge to be disqualified from being a judge for misconduct. Another member of the committee who was recently convicted, EFF leader Julius Malema, who is appealing a five-year prison sentence for firing a gun at an EFF rally in 2018.
Opinions were also divided at this meeting as to whether there is a need to seek public opinion on a matter that affects the issue of honest and unscrupulous people in the Ramaphosa investigation committee. It turns out that it is unusual for public opinion to be sought when Parliament sets policies.