The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) says the legal interpretation of the recent report by the Acting Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, has been politicised instead of questioned. The report on the Phala Phala saga was released last week.
It cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing regarding the alleged violation of the Executive Ethics Code and whether there was a conflict of interest between his constitutional obligations and his private interests at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo. The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants to take the report on review.
CASAC’s Executive Secretary Lawson Naidoo says, “She’s come to her conclusion. I have not seen in the debate, since the report was released, anyone taking issue with her legal interpretation.
What we are seeing is the continuing politicisation and weaponization of the office of the Public Protector to score political points, which is the political parties that have come out guns blazing, because they perhaps expected that this would be a political tool to weaken the President and the ruling party ahead of next year’s elections.”
DA rejects Acting Public Protector’s report on Phala Phala:
The African National Congress (ANC) has welcomed Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka’s report. ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says anyone who has a problem with the report must take it on review.
Meanwhile, political analyst Sandile Swana says a challenge by opposition parties in the courts will determine whether Gcaleka conducted a thorough investigations before reaching her findings in the Phala Phala report.
Swana says Gcaleka’s report raises many unanswered questions.
“There are a lot of details that have not been discussed, the detail of the information leaves the voters of SA questioning whether the investigation was done correctly and whether her mind was focused on the questions the pubic wanted her to answer. The PP must put questions to the relevant people who have the right information she needs and complete her investigation,” adds Swana.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) has raised concerns over the Acting Public Protector’s report. The UDM’s leader Bantu Holomisa explains:
“There would be no problem to join the parties as a friend of the court. The Acting PP has contradicted the President who said he is in the business of making money by selling animals. Yet, the Executive Ethics Code doesn’t permit a person in his position to do so. In fact, he has created the wrong precedence.”
Looking at legal implications of Phala Phala report:
