Speaker receives independent panel report on Phala Phala
The three-volume report will be made available to MPs and the public when it is uploaded to Parliament’s online Announcements, Tablings, and Committee reports (ATC) platform on Wednesday evening.
Retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo handed over the report by the Section 89 panel, investigating whether there is prima facie evidence that President Cyril Ramphosa violated his oath of office during and after the 2020 robbery at his Phala Phala farm, to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in Cape Town on Wednesday.
“The first volume is the reports itself, volume two and three is the record of the proceedings which contain every single document on which we relied in order to prepare this report. In addition to that, we have made available to the speaker the electronic version of that report,” Ngcobo said.
The retired chief justice led a three-member team, which included retired Judge Thokozile Masipa and Advocate Mahlape Sello, which was appointed by the speaker in September following a submission by the African Transformation Movement.
Mapisa-Nqakula described the handover as a “milestone” in the history of Parliament.
She confirmed that the 6th of December has been set aside for the National Assembly to consider the report.
“The role of the NA pertaining to the report is articulated in the rules. The House will consider the reports, its findings, its recommendations and adopt a resolution through a simple majority vote whether further action by the House is necessary or not.”
Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen has reacted to the handover by saying the inquiry was confined to the submissions that were made, which could work in Ramaphosa’s favour.
“This is at the heart of the argument that [the DA] made about why we should have rather had an ad hoc committee process which we tried to get the speaker to institute during the parliamentary recess.”
Steenhuisen believes Mapisa-Nqakula thwarted alternative efforts by his party to shield Ramaphosa while claiming the ANC knows a broader probe would have been able to summon the likes of Arthur Fraser, who lodged the criminal complaint against the president, and other key witnesses and entities such as the Reserve Bank and the South African Police Service.
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