The DA is deliberately putting political distance between itself and the ANC during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment process to prevent voters from seeing the two GNU partners as a single political bloc before the November local government elections, says a highly placed ANC source.
ANC insiders said the calculation was visible in two crucial votes before Parliament’s Section 89 committee, where the DA broke with the ANC and helped produce outcomes the governing party had opposed.
“They don’t support us. They’ve made an analysis. Politically, they’ve realised that because of the GNU, the public might see us as one and they are separating themselves from us,” the source told Sunday World.
The ANC expects the DA to maintain that position when the committee begins investigating the Phala Phala matter, potentially turning Ramaphosa’s impeachment inquiry into a recurring fault line between the GNU’s two largest parties.
The first major flashpoint came after the Western Cape High Court granted Ramaphosa an interim interdict temporarily halting the impeachment inquiry pending the outcome of his review application.
The committee then had to decide whether Parliament should appeal the order and seek to restart the process.
In a tightly contested vote, the committee resolved to appeal the interdict, with members of the Progressive Caucus and the DA securing a narrow majority.
The Progressive Caucus includes the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, the EFF, United African Democratic Movement and African Transformation Movement – parties that do not traditionally align with the DA.
The decision authorised committee chairperson Makashule Gana to institute appeal proceedings on behalf of Parliament.
The result placed the ANC in the unusual position of being unable to prevent Parliament from challenging a court order obtained by its president.
For the ANC source, the vote was evidence that the DA was treating the impeachment process as an opportunity to demonstrate political independence from its coalition partner.
The parties divided again this week when the committee considered candidates for appointment as evidence leader.
Senior advocate Griffiths Madonsela SC emerged as the committee’s preferred candidate after members considered the nominees and their disclosures.
The ANC had initially nominated advocate Zinzile Matebese SC but he subsequently informed the committee that he was unavailable. The party did not nominate a replacement when it was given another opportunity to do so.
However, an ANC source said the party’s position should not be interpreted as opposition to Madonsela personally.
The party’s MPs abstained from voting after their party secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, instructed them to do so.
The Patriotic Alliance and Al Jama-ah also took the same stance.
DA-backed candidate Kate Hofmeyr SC received seven votes, with the nomination also supported by the Freedom Front Plus and ActionSA.
Mbalula has since explained that the ANC’s decision to abstain was based on ethical concerns arising from Madonsela’s previous involvement with the party.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC national executive committee meeting at Birchwood Hotel on Friday, Mbalula said the ANC would raise its concerns with National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza.
“This morning, we’ll file a letter with the Speaker of Parliament. As you would have known, the committee has decided that advocate Madonsela should chair the committee.
“We abstained in that pro-cess, the reason being the ANC was being advised on the Section 89 committee by advocate Madonsela.
“And there was no way that we could have agreed that he must equally lead the processes of becoming the evidence leader. It will mean that the ANC is undermining the law. It will mean that the ANC does not respect the processes of Section 89. And that is why we withdrew on the matter,” he said while addressing the media in Boksburg.
Mbalula said the ANC had previously asked Madonsela to provide legal advice on the Section 89 process and therefore believed it would be inappropriate for him to subsequently lead the evidence process.
“The ethical thing to do is not to avail yourself to the committee. And when we became aware that he had been suggested to become the leader, we then abstained,” he said.
“I wish to state today that is the reason why we abstained as the ANC from supporting him. We’ve got nothing against him. He’s a good lawyer and we had actually asked him to advise the ANC on the processes of Section 89. So, for us to go and support him would be unethical in this particular instance.”
- The DA is distancing itself politically from the ANC during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment process to avoid being seen as a single political bloc before the November local government elections, according to an ANC source.
- The DA broke with the ANC in two crucial votes before Parliament’s Section 89 committee, including voting to appeal a Western Cape High Court interdict halting the impeachment inquiry.
- The committee’s appeal against the interim interdict was supported by the DA and Progressive Caucus members, putting the ANC in a position where it could not prevent Parliament’s challenge to the court order.
- In a separate vote for the evidence leader of the committee, the ANC abstained following instructions from party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula due to ethical concerns over senior advocate Griffiths Madonsela SC’s previous advisory role to the ANC on the Section 89 process.
- Mbalula stated the ANC would raise its concerns with National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, emphasizing that abstaining was to maintain respect for the Section 89 processes and avoid an ethical conflict involving Madonsela.
