Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane’s hopes to chair the parliamentary committee investigating the Phala Phala scandal, does not meet the approval of ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula, who said his party won't support him.
Image: Supplied
The race to chair Parliament’s impeachment committee probing the Phala Phala scandal has not officially begun, but ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has already made one thing clear: BOSA leader Mmusi Maimane is not a good fit for the responsibility.
Mbalula poured cold water on any prospect of Maimane leading the committee, dismissing him as a “man with one seat” in Parliament and declaring that the ANC would not support his appointment.
His remarks come after Maimane raised concerns that the impeachment process could be compromised if an ANC member were selected to chair the committee.
Addressing the issue, Mbalula insisted that the ANC was not entering the process to shield President Cyril Ramaphosa, but would instead be guided by the Constitutional Court ruling that led to the establishment of the committee.
“We are not going into the impeachment process to defend. We are going into the impeachment guided by the ruling of the constitutional court and follow all matters step by step up to the latter,” Mbalula said.
“If at the end the president has to appear before the impeachment committee, we have acted, even in the adult committee, we have acted without fear or favour against our own.”
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has dismissed Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane’s bid to chair the parliamentary committee investigating the Phala Phala scandal, saying the party will not support him.
Image: ANC / X
Mbalula questioned the basis of Maimane’s concerns and suggested that the BOSA leader had his eye on the committee’s top seat.
“Where does this thing that Mmusi Maimane talks about and formulate an unfounded principle? I mean, Maimane has got ambitions to chair the committee. It's all in his own right. He must come forward about it, and then I can tell you now we will not support it.”
According to Mbalula, Maimane was effectively writing his own parliamentary rulebook.
“Mmusi Maimane is just formulating his own rules. I know he wants to chair the committee.”
He then turned to parliamentary arithmetic.
“He has made an overchoice to us, a man with one seat. We can also argue. We have given him more than what he can chew in that parliament, appropriation committee, and one seat.”
Mbalula added that the ANC had accommodated BOSA despite the party not signing a statement of intent within the Government of National Unity.
“It is not that 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. We agreed to give him that seat because of the fact of the matter that it is in the public interest to do that. Who is he to tell us today that we cannot chair a committee? He cannot.”
The ANC secretary-general argued that all parties had interests in the process and accused some of attempting to pressure the governing party.
“Everybody has got interest. Don't want to blackmail the ANC.”
He further claimed that some of those pushing for Ramaphosa to appear before the committee were motivated by broader political objectives.
“Those who want Ramaphosa to appear before the impeachment committee for him to be impeached, they want to overthrow the ANC,” he said.
The 31-member committee was established following a Constitutional Court judgment directing Parliament to determine whether there are grounds to recommend Ramaphosa’s removal from office over the theft of more than $580,000 from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in 2020.
The committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Monday, where members will elect a chairperson and begin proceedings.
Its membership consists of nine ANC representatives, five from the DA, three from the MK Party, two from the EFF and 12 representatives from smaller parties.
According to reports, the ANC is expected to nominate ANC MP Doris Mpapane, chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on the Presidency, for the role.
Opposition parties, however, have argued that the chairperson should come from a smaller party to ensure neutrality.
Earlier on Monday, BOSA spokesperson Roger Solomons told IOL News that the committee should be chaired by someone with legal competence and a non-partisan approach.
“(The chair should be someone) in pursuit of getting the facts, and not partisan. The question on the table is whether there's a serious breach of the Constitution, and that must be the (central) question, not whether or not they want the president to be impeached. For example, the ANC would never want its own president to be impeached.”
“It cannot be chaired by the ANC or, in particular, members who are sitting within the GNU. We think that the opposition must be able to chair that,” Solomons said.
Asked whether Maimane would be willing to take the position, Solomons said the BOSA leader would be available, citing his parliamentary experience and ability to work across party lines.
The committee showdown unfolds as Ramaphosa pursues legal action in the Western Cape High Court to have the Phala Phala independent panel report reviewed and set aside.
The report, compiled in 2022 by an independent panel chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct linked to the Phala Phala matter.
Ramaphosa disputes those findings and argues that the panel relied on hearsay evidence, exceeded its mandate and reached conclusions based on questionable information.
“Save for the limited evidence I introduced in my response, there was no evidence before the panel,” Ramaphosa said in court papers.
He also questioned how confidential Namibian police documents and an audio recording came before the panel, arguing that the information may have been obtained unlawfully.
For now, before the impeachment committee has even elected its chairperson, the battle over who should occupy the seat appears to have become a political contest in its own right.
DAILY NEWS