Defiant MPs in hot water over Phala Phala vote

ANC MPs who voted in support of a report seeking to impeach President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday are in hot water after ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina recommended that they be disciplined.

“I've met ANC national officials and made a submission that they must be referred to the national disciplinary committee,” said Majodina, who met with ANC bosses on Wednesday.

This is in line with rule 25 of the party's constitution, she said. 

Meanwhile ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe says those who think their time with the ANC is over normally pack their bags and go.

Mantashe said the matter will be allocated to the relevant committee to make a decision.

“Where is Vytjie Mentor now? What happened to those people like Makhosi Khoza, she is no longer in the ANC. That’s what happens when you think the time with or to listen to the ANC is over. You normally pack your bags and leave,” said Mantashe.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and several other ANC MPs, known to be part of the RET faction opposed to Ramaphosa’s leadership, such as Supra Mahumapelo, Mervyn Dirks and Mosebenzi Zwane, also voted in favour of impeachment proceedings against him.

Other Ramaphosa opponents, such as ANC presidential contenders Zweli Mkhize, Lindiwe Sisulu and Bongani Bongo, were not in the house during the vote.

One hundred and forty-eight MPs from parties such as the DA, EFF, IFP, ATM, FF Plus and the UDM, also voted in favour of the report, which could have seen the institution of an impeachment committee against Ramaphosa.

In 2017, Khoza was one of the outspoken MPs who voted with opposition parties in a motion of no confidence in former president Jacob Zuma. Mentor, who was another of Zuma’s critics, resigned from parliament in 2014 and left the ANC in 2019.