Cape Town - The ATM has welcomed the start of the work of the independent panel of experts to determine whether President Cyril Ramaphosa has a case to answer regarding the Phala Phala farm scandal.
This comes after Parliament announced that the three-member panel would start its work on Wednesday.
“The 30-day timeline within which the Panel must report in terms of Rule 129G(1)(b) starts from 19 October 2022,” reads the Parliament's announcements, tablings and committee reports document.
In a statement, ATM communications manager Zama Ntshona said his party welcomed the start of the work of the panel.
“The ATM is, however, not pleased that it has taken three weeks for this process to start, and therefore, calling on the Speaker to take the nation to confidence on the reasons for the delay,” Ntshona said.
He also said they trusted that the panel would do nothing else but use the opportunity to entrench the rule of law and make the way for Ramaphosa to account.
“ATM calls on the panel to take advantage of the hard ground work done by the ATM.
“The ATM has already provided irrefutable and credible evidence, including supplementary evidence, which will make the work of the panel easy, so much that even the 30 days will be too long to finalise this matter,” Ntshona added.
The panel was formed after the ATM submitted a motion of confidence against Ramaphosa after Arthur Fraser, former head of the State Security Agency, lifted the lid on the theft when he laid a charge at the Rosebank police station in June.
In an explosive affidavit, Frazer said Ramaphosa kept foreign currency concealed in his furniture at his Phala Phala farm as prima facie proof of money laundering.
It has been claimed that about R62m was stolen, and people were paid to keep quiet about the matter.
Ramaphosa has confirmed the incident, but claimed the amount involved was far less.
He claimed to have reported the incident to the head of the presidential protection unit and that he was not involved in criminal conduct.
ATM leader Vuyo Zungula submitted a motion in terms of Section 89 and National Assembly rules to remove Ramaphosa from office on June 14.
“The motion was subsequently revised and resubmitted on 18 July and deemed compliant with the rules,” read the report.
The National Assembly rules provide that when the motion was in order, the motion and any supporting documentation must be handed to the independent panel established for the purposes of considering preliminary Section 89 matters.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula initially appointed former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, former head of the Gauteng High Court Division, Judge Thokozile Masipa and UCT public law professor Richard Calland on the panel.
But following objections from the DA and EFF, Calland was withdrawn from the panel and replaced by Advocate Mahlape Sello.
Cape Times