LEAKED AUDIO | Sisulu 'shared notes' with EFF before Phala Phala vote

Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu and the EFF's Godrich Gardee purportedly shared notes regarding the ANC's plans ahead of parliament's debate on the section 89 vote on Phala Phala.

In a leaked audio, a man, supposedly Gardee, can be heard asking a woman, seemingly Sisulu, about her whereabouts and whether she had arrived in Cape Town for the debate. He also asks whether she will “stand up or chicken out”.

Listen to the audio: 

Sisulu responds, saying they have just left an ANC caucus meeting .

“You can't be on top, Sisulu is at the bottom of the alphabet,” Gardee says regarding the alphabetical order in which MPs would be called to state their vote.

He further inquires about Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, saying she is among the first to vote and should “give hope to our people”.

“Is she game or not?” Gardee asks, to which Sisulu responds: “She has to be game because this is a matter of national importance. We have to impeach the president every time they transgress. Why would this case be different?”

Gardee puts it to Sisulu that ANC secretary-general Paul Mashatile is out of the race, the two slates having “thrown him out”.

“Can you, Zweli [Mkhize] and mama Nkosazana [Dlamini-Zuma] think together, something, please man, for the sake of South Africa?”

Co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) minister Dlamini-Zuma is among ANC MPs who defied the party line, voting in support of the report that suggested impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“It's not about the EFF, we will talk after 2024. But this thing of our movement, our ancestors man, eish, please man,” Gardee pleads with Sisulu.

He then tells her he will be flying to Cape Town and wonders whether there will be a gallery as he is not an MP and will not be in the chambers.

“Please mama, our people must have iron and steel balls,” Gardee urges.

He then begins to analyse those identified as opposed to Ramaphosa.

“The first person to be called in alphabetical order is Bongo Thomas, I don't trust him.

“The next person to be called is Dirks Mervyn, I trust him,” Gardee says, to which Sisulu responds: “Don't worry, he will sort it out.”

“But after Dirks, the next person is mama Nkosazana, I wonder if she will be strong enough to stand up.

“But the last person to be called, yourself and Zweli. That is my problem. If only you could use my surname, 'Gardee', you were going to at the top man,” he says.

Sisulu, Mkhize and Bongani Bongo were glaringly absent for the vote.

Gardee then wishes Sisulu good luck ahead of the debate, while she urges him to “tell your teammates (EFF MPs) to rise up to the occasion”.

“Don't worry about those ones. Those ones, you can trust them,” he says.  

Sisulu expresses frustration at the decision to mandate a party line amid the Phala Phala saga.

“This man set up a panel, what did he expect the panel to do? They used the representations they had and they came to a conclusion. They said he has a case to answer. If he's so sure there's no case to answer, then why does he not answer?” she says.

Gardee responds: “This thing is about which hands go up, which voice comes out, and we are trying to talk to our people on the other side because this thing is about us, as Africans.”

Gardee proceeds to ask Sisulu if they can meet for coffee in Johannesburg before Christmas.

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