Ramaphosa owes SA an explanation on 'all those Phala Phala dollars': Maimane

Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to explain the events surrounding the burglary that took place at his Phala Phala game farm in February 2020 in which millions of dollars were stolen.

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday reserved judgment on an application brought by the EFF and ATM political parties to challenge parliament’s decision not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry into the scandal.

A panel, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, had concluded that there was not enough evidence to support Ramaphosa being investigated.

Maimane said, “No wrongdoing on the part of the president, all he needs to do is explain to the people of this country his version of what took place and for parliament to be able to exercise its oversight role in this regard.”

He said Ramaphosa owed all South Africans a full explanation of how he came to be in possession “of all those US dollars taken from his sofa”.

“This is an important matter, not only for the transparency but it speaks to the fact that the president is accountable to the people, not only to the law agencies. [He] is accountable to the people and the people are represented in parliament. The president can come and account before the people of South Africa.”

Ramaphosa has survived several investigations, including by the public protector and the Reserve Bank, into whether he acted unlawfully in the events surrounding the burglary at his game farm.

Maimane said, “I know many people would say at one level the criminal process has taken place and, yes, the public protector, who's the only one capacitated to investigate the issue, has to investigate and come to a finding, which she has. Sars needs to educate us about what happens when large transits of money take place in our country.” .

He argued that there should have been an oversight committee to hold the president accountable.

“We don't have an oversight committee on the president, which is something that will continue. It's for matters such as this that there needs to be an oversight committee on the president. The president would've been well within his or her rights to appear before the committee.

“A report that was tabled by the same parliament cannot be voted to be ignored by the same parliament. It must be processed by a committee and therefore I stand with those who say ad hoc must have been established,” Maimane said.

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