Once again, the ANC MPs have kicked to the curb a proposal for a parliamentary investigation into the alleged theft of illegal US dollars stuffed into a leather couch at the Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo, solely owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In support of its motion on Wednesday for an ad hoc committee to investigate the theft of Phala Phala dollars, the DA said the Constitutional Court unanimously rejected Ramaphosa’s direct access request.
In addition, Ramaphosa wanted the court to set aside the report and findings of the Section 89 panel.
The panel, chaired by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, found that Ramaphosa may have a case to answer.
Ngcobo found prima-facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed a serious violation of the constitution by committing a range of crimes, as well as serious misconduct inconsistent with his oath of office over the alleged cover-up of theft of millions of US dollars hidden in a sofa.
The SA Revenue Service (SARS) also said on March 6 that the $580 000 (over R10-million) Hazim Mustafa allegedly paid for buffaloes, but was later stolen while hidden inside a couch for over two months, had not been declared to the authorities when he allegedly entered the country in December 2019.
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube told MPs that on December 13 2022, the ANC MPs voted against the adoption of the recommendations in the Ngcobo panel report.
The governing party argued that Ramaphosa had taken the report to court for review.
Gwarube said the panel’s investigation was limited in scope to Ramaphosa’s involvement, and that “there still exists an urgent need for the assembly to conduct [an investigation] in line with its constitutional obligations to maintain oversight, and to ensure that all organs of state are accountable to it, for it to have its own inquiry into the alleged involvement of several government departments and entities in the alleged cover-up”.
She said the Phala Phala scandal traversed several government departments and entities, including the National Treasury, SARS, State Security Agency, and the SA Police Service, among others.
She added that the proposed ad hoc committee would conduct an inquiry into matters surrounding the Phala Phala game farm theft, “with specific reference to the involvement and response of various government departments and agencies in the alleged cover-up of the crime”.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said parliament had to “do the right thing in the Phala Phala matter”.
“The ANC has already used the tyranny of its majority to squash the Section 89 panel report,” said Steenhuisen.
“And this was done for no other reason than the fact that the report contained truths that were inconvenient for the ANC, a truth that was inconvenient for President Ramaphosa.”
He said the retired chief justice, a retired high court judge, and a respected advocate who constituted the panel found that Ramaphosa had a prima-facie case to answer and that he may have committed a serious violation of the constitution.
“A serious violation of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, serious misconduct in that the president acted in a way that is inconsistent with his office, and serious misconduct in exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict of interest between his official responsibilities and his private business interests.”
He said there were “extremely serious allegations against any head of state, but particularly against one who rode into town with a promise to end the corruption and abuse of what he had termed the nine wasted years that preceded him”.
“The truth will come out on Phala Phala, no matter how hard the ANC tries to hold back the tide.
“It will become a day of reckoning for each and every member of this house to account for how you cast your vote today. So, I urge you to support the motion.
“But at the end of the day, the one thing that every South African must remember is this: an innocent man should never be afraid of the truth and an innocent president should never be afraid of parliament.”
But the ANC said law-enforcement agencies and other authorities that have been investigating Phala Phala since June 2022 must be allowed to conclude their work before parliament could step in, adding that acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka had already cleared Ramaphosa in her preliminary report.
The Good Party, Al Jammah, and the NFP supported the ANC.
At the end of the sitting, a total of 135 MPs voted in favour of the motion and 204 voted against it.
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