The Phala Phala matter is back in the national legislature where lawmakers will decide whether to set up an ad hoc committee to probe it.
This is one of two motions to be debated in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
However, parliamentarians will first debate the motion of no confidence on the removal of the Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
The motion was tabled by the EFF.
In its motion the EFF said the Speaker had acted unconstitutionally by calling on members of the security services to remove their members.
This was after party MPs stormed the stage where President Cyril Ramaphosa was delivering the State of the Nation address, prompting security officials to step in and eject the EFF.
Mapisa-Nqakula has insisted that she had acted correctly and in line with the rules of the national legislature.
In the motion of the DA, party leader John Steenhuisen is calling for the establishment of the ad hoc committee into Phala Phala.
He wants the committee to finish its work by early June and submit a report to fellow parliamentarians.
This comes after the acting Public Protector had completed a preliminary investigation in which he found no wrongdoing against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Acting public protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, had then sent the preliminary report to all affected parties to make comments on it.
But the official opposition wants an ad hoc committee to be established.
This comes after parliament voted against the Section 89 report, which had been put together by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo.
Ramaphosa has insisted that he did nothing wrong in the Phala Phala matter, but opposition parties believe he has a case to answer.
Steenhuisen has tabled a motion in the National Assembly to set up a committee comprising members from different parties.
“(The House) acknowledges that as the panel’s investigation was limited in scope to the President’s involvement, there still exists an urgent need for the Assembly to conduct – in line with its constitutional obligations to maintain oversight of and to ensure that all organs of State are accountable to it – its own inquiry into the alleged involvement of several government departments and entities in the alleged cover-up;
“(The House) recognises that as the matters surrounding the Phala Phala game farm theft transverse several government departments and entities – including National Treasury, South African Revenue Services, State Security Agency, and the South African Police Service among others – a single, dedicated forum should be established to conduct a comprehensive inquiry,” said Steenhuisen in the motion.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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