President Cyril Ramaphosa’s refusal to answer questions about the robbery at his Phala Phala game farm caused outrage among opposition parties in the national assembly on Tuesday.
The president stuck to his guns by refusing to respond to questions regarding to the burglary to his Phala Phala game farm, saying he would let the investigation process be completed before commenting.
Ramaphosa repeatedly told the National Assembly on Tuesday that he was ready to answer all the questions and give an explanation to parliament, but that he was advised against doing so.
“I know there’s a great deal of interest in my answer to this question. I have never shied away from being accountable… I stand ready to cooperate with any investigations on the matter, which are ongoing by a variety of agencies.
“I will continue to respond to questions put by various authorities. They advised it was best to publicly deal with the theft when the investigation processes are over. I am ready to take the nation into my confidence. But I should give space to allow the investigative authorities to deal with this.
“The law should take its course- making it important that due process should be followed, including the parliamentary process. There are people here that merely seek political milage out of this.”
In unison, opposition MPs rejected Ramaphosa’s statement, saying he should account to parliament.
EFF leader Julius Malema said he found it odd that Ramaphosa is willing to answer to other agencies and not to parliament, the body in which he accounts.
“He says so many questions came to me, and I have answered all those questions, but I am not going to answer to you, he says he can answer to everybody else except parliament,” he said.
Democratic Alliance (DA)’s Siviwe Gwarube said: “The president and your office had these questions for two weeks. If it was ill suited, the question should have been removed from the question paper.”
Source: Eyewitness News, News24, The Citizen, Times Live, Sowetan Live, image from Times Live: Bloomberg
