Parliament clears Kodwa of Phala Phala cover-up
Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence has cleared Deputy State Security Minister Zizi Kodwa of any involvement in covering up the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm.
The president is accused of covering up the theft of a large amount of foreign currency from his private farm in Limpopo in 2020.
The theft came to light when former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa, who has since come under pressure from opposition parties to come clean about the events at his farm.
The committee's investigation follows a request by the DA for Parliament to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate the robbery.
One of the allegations was that Kodwa knew about the Phala Phala robbery but opted to keep the matter a secret.
But the committee said there is not enough evidence to investigate whether Kodwa had abused state resources.
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube says the outcome is another reason why an ad hoc committee is required.
"We need to ensure that this scandal is covered on all levels and all state institutions are investigated. An ad hoc committee in this matter would be able to obtain the evidence that any other parliamentary bodies need to act on this case. Additionally, it would be done in an open and transparent fashion as opposed to any work done by the JSCI.
“That is the role of Parliament. We need to take our oversight responsibility seriously and not simply find reasons why this institution cannot do its work.
“What is clear is that the speaker is hellbent on repeating the mistakes of her predecessors by rendering Parliament useless in the face of critical national issues like this one," says Gwarube.
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