The DA has accused the ANC and the GOOD party of protecting President Cyril Ramaphosa and his executive following a failed motion for Parliament to establish an ad hoc committee to hold Ramaphosa and his executive to account over the Phala Phala farm scandal.
The establishment of the committee would have seen the president and other implicated state organs and members of the executive being investigated for their involvement in the cover-up of the theft of dollars at Ramaphosa's farm in 2020. According to the party, it would also have ensured that some of the actions taken to ensure the theft was kept under wraps and the use of state resources to further the cover-up would be investigated properly.
Opposition parties including the DA, EFF, Cope, ATM and others voted in favour of the motion but the ANC and GOOD opposed the motion.
On Wednesday, after the failed attempt, DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube accused the ANC of failing to hold its leader accountable. She said that once again, the ANC had failed in its constitutional obligation by shielding Ramaphosa and his Cabinet from accountability. She said Ramaphosa had abused his power and state resources as well as state institutions that were used to keep the Phala Phala farm theft from public scrutiny.
“The governing party voted against the DA's motion to establish an ad hoc committee that would have investigated matters surrounding this theft. The ANC is beyond the point of self-correction. They have learnt no lesson from the past decade. Instead, they continue to hollow out Parliament in order to shield many in their ranks from accountability. It is truly a sad day in our democracy when a logical motion meant to enable members of Parliament to do their work is shot down due to narrow political interests,” Gwarube said.
Ahead of the vote, the DA said it was confident it would be able to convince some members of the governing party to support this motion, but its hopes were dashed when the party with the most votes to swing the decision did not support this vote, along with the GOOD party.
“All the opposition parties voted in favour of the motion. The ANC and GOOD party voted against it. This is the same as the ANC in its 5th Parliament who protected former president Jacob Zuma and his ministers from being held accountable for Nkandla and State Capture,” Gwarube said.
She said the DA had presented strong and sound arguments why the motion would be in the best interests of constitutionality.
“It is precisely what the Zondo Commission into State Capture report meant when it found that Parliament had failed to use oversight and all measures at its disposal during the Zuma years. It is clear that this trend is continuing under Ramaphosa’s presidency, aided and abetted by the current Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula,” Gwarube said.