Mbalula says the ANC will not defend President Cyril Ramaphosa in the impeachment committee.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has slammed Build One South Africa (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane for suggesting that the ANC should not lead the impeachment committee investigating the facts surrounding the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala-Phala farm.
The committee members are expected to meet on Monday to elect the chairperson of this committee. But Maimane believes that having an ANC MP lead this committee could compromise the integrity of the committee’s work.
“Mmusi Maimane is just formulating his own rules. I know he wants to chair the committee; he has made overtures to us, a man with one seat. We have given him more than what he can chew in that parliament, the appropriations committee, with one seat.
“He did not even sign a statement of intent in the government of national unity. We gave him a seat just on the basis of an understanding. We are not enslaved to Mmusi Maimane, we are a principled party… who is he today to tell us that we cannot chair a committee?” he told broadcaster eNCA.
He said the ANC will not support Maimane if he does get nominated for the position of committee chairperson.
The Citizen has reached out to Maimane for comment. This will be included once received.
Can the ANC hold its president accountable?
According to Mbalula, the ANC has proved it can hold its own members accountable, citing the Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi as an example.
“We have acted impartially. We have acted with dignity and integrity. We have worked with all the MPs in parliament, and they are now about to deliver a report… who says the ANC is going to defend the president and that the ANC will not hold the president to account?” he asked.
DA also rejects an ANC chairperson
The ANC’s biggest partner in the government of national unity (GNU), the DA, toldbroadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Monday that the party does not believe that the ANC should chair the impeachment committee.
“We do not think that it should be an ANC member, nor should it be a DA member. We hope that the chairperson will be someone who is more impartial,” said the party’s spokesperson, Jan de Villiers.
De Villiers could not confirm if the party had been lobbied by any other political party in parliament for their vote to lead the committee.
“This is really a test for parliament, a test for the country to see if we can hold the highest office in the land accountable… the committee must be objective, it must not pre-judge the outcome, and the outcome must be a result of a fair and transparent process,” he said.
The impeachment committee comprises 31 members and includes the most notable political parties in the national assembly.