Ramaphosa accused of betrayal during Phala Phala debate

The National Assembly is debating the findings and recommendations of an expert panel that was appointed to determine if Ramaphosa had a case to answer on the Phala Phala matter.

The section 89 panel has concluded the president may have violated the Constitution over his handling of the theft of foreign currency on his Limpopo farm.

DA leader John Steenhuisen says they don't believe Ramaphosa has been truthful about the origin of the money.

"This president who rode into town majestically on the promise of a new dawn and pledged to do things differently and yet here we are again, then it was Nkandla now it is Phala Phala, then it was fire pools and cattle crawl now it's couches stuffed with dollars, then it was President Jacob Zuma and it is president Cyril Ramaphosa. 

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"But it is exactly the same modus operandi, as long as you got the numbers in parliament, you can make any scandal go away." 

EFF leader Julius Malema accused the president of being reluctant to allow an inquiry into the activities at Phala Phala farm.

"You are so desperate to avoid any type of investigation into the crimes that have occurred in relation to Phala Phala farm that you have decided to spite in the face of the freedoms and institution so many fought and died for. It is concerning because it means worse has happened on the farm that you do not want people of South Africa to know." 

IFP deputy president, Inkosi Elphas Buthelezi, says it's clear there are no longer leaders in the ANC who can be trusted.

"Something has broken that cannot be fixed. South Africa cannot trust the President anymore. Worse to this is that this trust was not owed to the President but to the promise of a new dawn, promising honest leadership. 

"Now we are left asking, 'Is there any among them that is beyond reproach?' For us President Cyril Ramaphosa was the only hope we had in the ANC."