Proceedings have gotten off to a rowdy start at the Cape Town City Hall as Members of Parliament sit to vote on the Section 89 Independent Panel report.
The Independent Panel probe found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have a prima facie case to answer on the theft of about $580 000 from his Phala Phala farm in 2020.
This is the second meeting of the 400 MPs under one roof since the COVID-19 pandemic and fire in Parliament earlier this year.
Voting is to take place by open ballot. However, some opposition parties have again appealed to Mapisa-Nqaluka for a secret ballot.
Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula opened the debate by summarising how proceedings will take place.
“The National Assembly has convened at the Cape Town City Hall for a debate and vote on whether to adopt the report of the Panel of Experts that found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office in the Phala Phala farm matter. Voting is to take place by open ballot.”
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) had previously requested the Speaker to hold the vote by secret ballot for fear that the African National Congress (ANC) MPs would not support the adoption of the report.
ATM Leader, Vuyo Zungula opposed the proceedings on this submission to the house.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) chief whip, Floyd Shivambu, has accused Mapisa-Nqakula, of being irrational for not allowing a secret ballot for voting in the Section-89 debate. Shivambu criticised Mapisa-Nqakula for not allowing a secret ballot.
LIVE: NA debates Section 89 Independent Panel Report into Phala Phala:
ANC Confident
The ANC’s chief whip Pemmy Majodina says that the party is confident that they will get the 50% plus one majority to reject the section 89 panel’s report. And Majodina says that ANC members will vote according to what the party has decided on the matter.
“Like any other party, every member of parliament has been appointed by his or her party to be here- so, why do people think that the ANC people must behave differently from their party. Our party has taken a decision that we don’t support this report, like any other party- we are led by our political parties, nobody came here as an individual- nobody came here on conscience. So, all of us are deployed by the ANC, we take tune from the ANC.”
Vote to adopt
Democratic Aalliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen, has called on all MPs to vote to adopt the section 89 Phala Phala report and to allow an important Parliamentary process to go ahead. Steenhuisen says by adopting the report, MPs give the National Assembly an opportunity for the country to get clarity on outstanding issues around the Phala Phala incident.
“We are not voting on guilt or innocence of President. Today is about process. It’s about acknowledging as authors of report, that big questions to be answered, only by a process of an inquiry undertaken by this house.”
