Simon Nare
Parliament’s Section 89 Impeachment Committee has rejected draft wording that appeared to allow President Cyril Ramaphosa’s evidence on the Phala Phala scandal to be presented by a legal representative instead of by the President himself.
Committee members met on Wednesday to consider and deliberate on the draft terms of reference and discuss the process to appoint evidence leaders to lead witnesses in the inquiry into Ramaphosa’s handling of the theft of foreign currency from his private Phala Phala farm.
The concern centred on Rule 16.10 of the draft rules, which states: “If the president elects to testify and there is a president’s representative, the president may elect that their evidence is presented by the president’s representative.”
Several MPs said the wording should be amended or tightened because it appeared to give Ramaphosa leeway not to attend the inquiry personally, despite being the subject of the proceedings.
They argued
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