PHUTI MOSOMANE & INSIDE POLITICS STAFF
THE African National Congress (ANC) has once again been thrown into chaos ahead of the debate on the Section 89 report that said President Cyril Ramaphosa may have a case to answer to over the Phala Phala scandal.
Parliament is due to debate the Section 89 report on Tuesday afternoon.
The report has divided the members of Parliament, with some saying Ramaphosa should remain president and others saying he should be impeached.
The matter has also caused paralysis in the ANC and the State, including policy uncertainty, despite international relations and cooperation (Dirco) minister Naledi Pandor’s assurances to international investors on Monday that South Africa remains a stable democracy.
Opposition parties are united in their calls for Ramaphosa to be impeached, with the exception of Congress of the People (COPE).
The African Transformation Movement (ATM), Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the IFP, among others, are counting the support of ANC MPs who have spoken out and supported calls for the impeachment of the president.
Because the ANC dominates the National Assembly, and opposition parties cannot get the two-thirds majority necessary, the decision to impeach Ramaphosa will largely depend on the balance of power within the governing party.
ANC MPs such as Mervyn Dirks, Supra Mahumapelo, Tandi Mahambehlala, Bongani Bongo, Lindiwe Sisulu, Zweli Mkhize and Dr Nkosazana Zuma have openly called for Ramaphosa to resign.
Dirks is on record saying that he was “not sent to Parliament to do unethical things.”
“I will definitely vote in favour of the report no matter what the ANC says. This process was started by Parliament, which is led in the majority by the ANC.”
This despite acting Secretary-General Paul Mashatile saying all ANC MPs were expected to follow the NEC decision not to support the Section 89 report.
This past Sunday, ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe also warned ANC MPs who openly said they will vote in support of the Section 89 forex scandal report.
“Ask Makhosi Khoza what happens when you defy the ANC. She had to leave. If you defy the ANC, you will have to leave because it means you don’t have respect for the organisation, you are an individual. Conscience is ok, but we have a political system,” Mantashe told a Sunday newspaper.
Observers say many ANC MPs are at a crossroads, with many unlikely to vote truthfully for fear of reprisals if they vote in support of the impeachment process.
Ramaphosa has already demonstrated his ruthlessness following the expulsion of former MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus.
ANC NEC members, Bathabile Dlamini and Tony Yengeni, were also informed by the party’s Electoral committee chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe that they have been disqualified to stand for any position at the upcoming conference.
Ramaphosa’s problems are, however, unlikely to disappear, with internal wrangling within the ANC expected to continue up to the conference on Friday.
Ramaphosa says he deserves a second term because he has laid a solid foundation that needs to be built upon during a second term.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has rejected the second request by the ATM for a secret ballot on Monday night.
“The Speaker also said she had to balance Mr Zungula’s reasons for a secret ballot procedure against other imperatives, including the foundational Constitutional principle of “openness”, as set out in Section 1(d) of the Constitution which guides SA democratic order. Furthermore, the Speaker said the Constitutional requirement, as set out in Section 59(1)(b), that the National Assembly must conduct its proceedings in an open manner was also an important consideration in this case,” said Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo.
INSIDE POLITICS
