Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis says preserving South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) must not come at the cost of protecting President Cyril Ramaphosa from scrutiny.
Hill-Lewis said that while the outcome of Parliament’s impeachment inquiry should not be predetermined, Ramaphosa still has significant questions to answer regarding the storage of US dollars at his Phala Phala farm.
His comments follow a ruling by the Constitutional Court of South Africa on Friday ordering Parliament to immediately establish an impeachment committee. The court found that a National Assembly rule allowing MPs to decide whether to act on adverse findings by an independent panel was unconstitutional.
Geordin Hill-Lewis Says Accountability Must Take Priority Over GNU Politics
Hill-Lewis said that although the DA’s previous leadership had been willing to set aside the Phala Phala controversy in order to form a majority government, the party’s current leadership would not take decisions solely to preserve the coalition.
“The alternative would be that we would be sweeping wrongdoing under the carpet just because it’s politically convenient to ensure the survival of this government. That would be completely unacceptable.”
He said the DA, as the second-largest party in the GNU, would not compromise on the principle of accountability for political convenience.
Ramaphosa Still Owes Parliament Answers On Phala Phala Dollars
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza is now expected to invite political parties to nominate members to serve on the impeachment committee.
Hill-Lewis said Ramaphosa still needs to provide a full explanation to Parliament about what took place at his Limpopo farm in 2020.
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“It is very unusual, despite what the Reserve Bank has said, for any person to have an enormous amount of foreign currency under a couch cushion.”
The Phala Phala matter centres on the theft of foreign currency concealed at the president’s farm and has remained a source of political controversy.
MK Party Pushes For Ramaphosa No-Confidence Vote
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has chosen not to wait for the impeachment inquiry and is instead calling for a parliamentary debate on a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa.
Hill-Lewis believes the move is aimed at pressuring the African National Congress (ANC) to replace Ramaphosa with a leader more acceptable to the MK Party.
