Ethics and accountability sacrificed as DA vows to shield Ramaphosa from accounting for Phala Phala scandal

18 June 2024

In another whiplash-inducing U-turn, the DA appears to be aggressively backtracking on their vow to hold President Cyril Ramaphosa accountable for the Phala Phala scandal, which they themselves said 'reeked of corruption and a cover-up from day one’.

Barely 3 days into the ANC/DA alliance, ActionSA's concern about a co-opted and compromised opposition finds vindication following comments by DA Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, leaving no ambiguity that the DA will not vote for the impeachment of a 'President they voted for'.

With the goalposts now seemingly shifted, the idea that ‘new evidence’ emerging would only prompt the DA to further act on what they’ve already defined as ‘corruption’ and a ‘cover-up’ and have gone to the lengths of seeking to challenge in court and have investigated by the FBI, is dishonest and a tell-tale sign of an emergence of a crisis of accountability under the new coalition arrangement.

Thankfully, the Constitutional Court will soon hear an application challenging the ANC's abuse of their parliamentary majority, which saw Parliament strike down the adoption of the Independent Panel Report into the Phala Phala scandal which established that the President did indeed have a prima facie case to answer for, warranting further investigation. What’s more is that if the President is not guilty of any wrongdoing, he, his party and new partners should have nothing to fear.

Let us not have to remind our colleagues of the Constitutional Court's past ruling that Parliament failed in its duty to hold former President Zuma accountable over the Nkandla scandal.

ActionSA believes that President Ramaphosa must account for the Phala Phala dollars saga, and that it is the responsibility of every member of Parliament, whether they are part of the ruling coalition or not, to ensure the integrity of Parliament and the laws enshrined in our Constitution are upheld.

Therefore, while others have ditched the opposition benches to form a government with the very people they called treasonous, corrupt, kleptocratic, incompetent and criminal; ActionSA will continue to ensure that we waste no time in fulfilling our mandate to hold the executive to account.

Issued by Athol Trollip, Parliamentary Caucus Leader, ActionSA, 18 June 2024