Parties aligned to the government of national unity (GNU) used their majority on Monday to elect Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana as chairperson of Parliament’s Section 89 committee, which is set to investigate the burglary at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm.
In the Section 89 committee’s inaugural meeting who took place in parliament today, Gana secured 19 votes, benefiting from the support of the ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), Rise Mzansi and Al Jama-ah.
GNU’s upper hand
The vote underscored the influence of the GNU grouping in parliamentary structures, with the coalition parties voting largely as a bloc to ensure Gana’s election.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) was the only GNU partner that did not back Gana, rather opting to vote with the parties outside the GNU.
Contender Mahlatsi gets 12 votes
Opposition parties in the Progressive Caucus instead nominated United Africans Transformation (UAT) MP Wonderboy Mahlatsi for the position. Mahlatsi received 12 votes from the EFF, MK Party, Build One South Africa (BOSA), UAT, National Coloured Congress (NCC), UDM and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP).
After the result was announced, Gana kept his remarks brief, expressing appreciation to committee members for the confidence they had shown in him by electing him to the role.
He will now lead the committee responsible for overseeing Parliament’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm, a matter that has generated significant political and legal debate since it first emerged.
Gana is a senior leader in RISE Mzansi and currently serves as the party’s chief organiser. A seasoned politician, he built much of his political career in the Democratic Alliance, where he held leadership positions in the party’s youth structures, local government, and Parliament.
He represented the DA in the National Assembly and later in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature before leaving the party in 2022. Gana holds qualifications in mathematics, computer science and management. He joined RISE Mzansi ahead of the 2024 elections and has emerged as one of the party’s most prominent public representatives.
- This story has been updated
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Parties aligned to the government of national unity (GNU) used their majority on
In the Section 89 committee's inaugural meeting who took place in parliament today, Gana secured 19 votes, benefiting from the support of the ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance (PA),
Opposition parties in the Progressive Caucus instead nominated United Africans Transformation (UAT) MP
After the result was announced, Gana kept his remarks brief, expressing appreciation to committee members for the confidence they had shown in him by electing him to the role.
He will now lead the committee responsible for overseeing Parliament’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm, a matter that has generated significant political and legal debate since it first emerged.
Gana is a senior leader in RISE Mzansi and currently serves as the party's chief organiser. A seasoned politician, he built much of his political career in the Democratic Alliance, where he held leadership positions in the party's youth structures, local government, and Parliament.
He represented the DA in the National
This story has been updated
