Staff Reporter
Parliament has received the names of MPs who will serve on the impeachment committee that will investigate the Phala Phala scandal involving President Cyril Ramaphosa, the National Assembly said on Monday.
The committee is being established after the Constitutional Court revived impeachment proceedings linked to the 2020 theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm, overturning Parliament’s earlier decision not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.
The deadline for political parties to submit names was Friday, 22 May. Almost all parties met the deadline, except the ANC, which told Parliament it would submit its names over the weekend. The ANC has since submitted its nominees.
The Section 89 impeachment process stems from an independent panel report in 2022 that found preliminary evidence that Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office.
The matter centres on questions over how $580,000 in cash stolen from his farm was acquired, whether it was declared, and why it was kept in a couch rather than deposited in a bank. Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing and has said the money came from the sale of buffalo.
Under Parliament’s process, the impeachment committee must investigate the allegations in more detail and make a recommendation to the National Assembly. If it recommends removal, the House would have to debate and vote on the matter, with a two-thirds majority required to remove a president.
Parliament said GOOD and the PAC would not participate in the committee because each party has only one MP, who serve in the executive as ministers.
The committee will include nine ANC MPs: Doris Mpapane, Xola Nqola, Soviet Lekganyane, Faith Muthambi, Cameron Dugmore, Dikeledi Direko, Boyce Maneli, Mirateko Mahlaule and Lusizo Makhubela. Joy Maimela will serve as an alternate.
The DA nominated George Michalakis, Baxolile Nodada, Glynnis Breytenbach, Karabo Khakhau and Nazley Sharif.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party nominated John Hlophe, Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala, while the EFF nominated Julius Malema and Omphile Maotwe.
The IFP nominated Nhlanhla Hadebe, the Patriotic Alliance nominated Marlon Daniels, the Freedom Front Plus nominated Wouter Wessels, and ActionSA nominated Lerato Ngobeni, with Athol Trollip as an alternate.
The ACDP nominated Steve Swart, the UDM nominated Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, Rise Mzansi nominated Makashule Gana, Build One South Africa nominated Mmusi Maimane, the ATM nominated Vuyo Zungula, Al-Jama-ah nominated Imran Ismail-Moosa, the National Coloured Congress nominated Fadiel Adams, and United Africans Transformation nominated LW Mahlatsi.
Parliament previously said Speaker Thoko Didiza had determined that the committee would comprise 31 members drawn from 16 parties represented in the National Assembly, balancing proportional representation with participation by smaller parties.
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