President Cyril Ramaphosa
PHOTO: OJ Koloti, Gallo Images
- The forum that compromises all opposition parties wants the impeachment hearings of President Cyril Ramaphosa to begin.
- It comes after the release of the independent report from Parliament’s section 89 which made damning findings against Ramaphosa.
- The forum added that it would request the prosecutor to file a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa on the basis of prima facie evidence that he committed serious violations of the Constitution and laws of the republic.
The parliamentary forum made up of opposition political parties says the impeachment hearing of President Cyril Ramaphosa should start.
The forum held its fourth meeting on Friday in Ekurhuleni. The meeting follows the release of the independent report from Parliament’s section 89 which made a damning finding against Ramaphosa.
“The meeting noted that the Section 89 panel report found that there is prima facie evidence of gross misconduct and gross violation of the Constitution by Mr. Ramaphosa. This finding by the independent panel is what is required by Parliament’s rules for the impeachment committee to be established,” the forum said in a statement.
In a scathing Section 89 report, a panel led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found that Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution and anti-corruption laws in his dealings with the Phala Phala game farm. The game farm in Limpopo was broken into and a large amount of money was stolen.
The Section 89 panel presented its report to the National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, on Wednesday.
Since the report was published, there has been mounting pressure on Ramaphosa to resign.
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The National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee of the ANC are expected to discuss the results of the report.
The forum added that the session expected to take place in Parliament on Tuesday should ensure that an impeachment committee is established.
The forum of opposition political parties comprising DA, EFF, IFP, ACDP, UDM, National Freedom Party (NFP), African Transformation Movement (ATM), COPE, FF+ and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) unanimously agreed that Parliament must physically meet to vote on the impeachment process on Tuesday.
“The reason for physically summoning Parliament is to avoid a situation where the represented political parties lock up members of Parliament in private places that are not protected or safe for Parliament and all its members,” he said.
He added that the opposition parties agreed that parliamentarians must vote to start the impeachment process “because not doing so is not sensible and will not pass the rationality test.”
“Voting against the Independent Panel’s recommendation of section 89 will be a breach of Parliament’s constitutional obligation to hold the executive accountable,” he said.
The forum added that it would request the prosecutor to file a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa on the basis of prima facie evidence that he committed serious violations of the Constitution and laws of the republic.
