Parliament's impeachment committee is now formally constituted as MPs prepare to examine the Phala Phala saga and Ramaphosa's role in the matter.
Makashule Gana. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Rise Mzansi’s chief organiser, Makashule Gana, has been elected chairperson of the 31-member impeachment committee, which is set to determine President Cyril Ramaphosa’s fate in the Phala Phala farm saga.
Gana led fellow nominee and United Africans Transformation member Dr Wonderboy Mahlatsi by seven votes in parliament on Monday, receiving 19 votes.
“I usually start off by saying thank you, chairperson, but now I have become the chairperson. I want to thank all the members and everyone who participated in this process. The work has just begun,” Gana said after the vote.
“The Section 89 committee work is now in progress, and the things that are in our control, we’ll ensure that they are done. Those that are outside of our control will be done by those bodies,” the committee’s chairperson added.
Gana said that while processes regarding the rules are underway, they will “not stop the work of the committee as they will work in parallel”.
The election of the chairperson came as Ramaphosa heads to court to request a judicial review of the Section 89 Independent Panel Report, on which the impeachment inquiry is based.
The Constitutional Court sent the Section 89 panel’s report on the Phala Phala scandal back to parliament last month, leaving room for an impeachment process against Ramaphosa to proceed.
Gana’s name was put forward by the ANC MP Mika Mahlaule, while the EFF’s Omphile Maotwe nominated Mahlatsi.
MK party deputy president John Hlophe said the party was bitterly disappointed by Gana’s election, and described Rise Mzansi as “a project of the ANC”.
Speaking after the committee meeting. Hlophe said the ANC is using Rise Mzansi to achieve what it could not.
“As far as we are concerned, in order for the process to have any credibility, it must be chaired by an independent person, and we do not believe – with due respect – that Honourable Gana is independent,” Hlophe said.
“In fact, if you look at what happened, we did not vote for him. He did not even come to our side to shake hands with us; he shook hands with the ANC and the DA and all other people who voted for him. That’s a clear sign that the circus is about to begin.”
Hlophe also took aim at the DA, saying the party misled the opposition caucus into believing they’d be voting with them during their meeting on Monday morning.
He said it was very clear that they came to the meeting with their own agenda.
“All they wanted was honourable Gana or nothing. They got their Gana. But we hope that the process going forward is not going to be manipulated,” Hlophe said.
He also accused Gana of lacking objectivity.
“We have been in parliament for two years, and we have witnessed how Honourable Gana operates. He has never voted against the ANC on any issue, be it committees or plenary sessions; he always follows that which the ANC says.”
ActionSA called Gana’s election an “arrangement managed by the ANC”.
In a statement, the party said it called for the chairperson to be elected from within the ranks of the opposition in order for the inquiry to enjoy the full confidence of the South African public.
“Our position was never about any individual candidate, but rather the constitutional principle that accountability processes must be demonstrably independent from those with a direct interest in the continuation of the current administration,” the party said.
“Parliament cannot afford a repeat of past failures where accountability processes were viewed as protecting executive power rather than scrutinising it.”
ActionSA said while it was disappointed, it remains committed to participating constructively in the committee’s work and ensuring it fulfils its constitutional responsibility.
Rise Mzansi said Gana’s election was “a clear endorsement of principled leadership and a firm commitment to accountability”.
