DA leader John Steenhuisen says it is only a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee that will be able to fully investigate what took place on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in 2020.
Steenhuisen says acting Public Protector, Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka misunderstood the conflict of interest raised by the party on the part of the president.
The DA leader was reacting to Gcaleka’s leaked preliminary report into allegations of a potential violation of the Executive Ethics Code over the theft at his Limpopo farm almost three years ago.
In the interim report, Gcaleka says the evidence before her office does not support the allegation that Ramaphosa’s financial interests in game and cattle farming expose him to a conflict of interest between his official duties and private interests.
However, Steeinhuisen says the report is in stark contrast to the recommendations of the Section 89 Independent Panel report that found that Ramaphosa may have a prima facie case to answer.
“What the contents of this preliminary report highlights, however, is that there may now exist a clear conflict between the findings of the Public Protector and the Section 89 Independent Panel. What this means for South Africans is that the water of truth is being muddied and we’re no closer to getting to the bottom of this debacle,” says Steenhuisen.
He says only the report highlights the need to a adhoc committee.
“This, of course, gives credence to the DA’s repeated calls for the establishment of an adhoc committee into the Phala Phala matter so that members of parliament can be allowed to do their job of arriving at the full, unredacted truth. Such an adhoc committee in parliament will have broad powers to subpoena persons and documents to which the Public Protector was clearly unable to gain access.”
Acting Public Protector releases preliminary report on Phala Phala investigation: Romeo Nthambeleni
