President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stance on the robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo is perplexing.
It is several months since former spy boss Arthur Fraser effectively brought the matter to public attention by laying criminal complaints against Ramaphosa in connection with the circumstances of the theft of a large amount of cash from Ramaphosa’s farm in 2020.
No public funds were involved but there are several troubling aspects to this robbery, including why a wad of cash was stashed away on the farm and claims that Ramaphosa covered up the incident and state resources were used to clandestinely investigate the theft.
This alone would have been grist to the opposition’s mills. Ramaphosa’s failure to lay bare the facts in public has amplified the furore.
Earlier in August, parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula agreed to a request by the African Transformation Movement for a Section 89 committee to probe whether Ramaphosa is fit to hold office but this committee will only be established if a yet to be appointed panel agrees there is a case to answer.
Now, several opposition parties have opted not to wait for the lengthy Section 89 process.
They want to bring a motion of no confidence in the president before parliament now.
These parties include the EFF, UDM, COPE, ACDP and PAC but, significantly, the biggest opposition party, the DA, does not support the move, preferring to allow the parliamentary process to unfold.
Given the majority the ANC enjoys and the size of the DA benches, unless there is a substantial defection from within the ranks of ANC MPs, a no-confidence motion will amount to nothing more than grandstanding by a fragment of the opposition; theatre designed to grab public attention rather than effect real change.
Nevertheless, the longer Ramaphosa remains quiet about Phala Phala, the more damming this seems and the more his image — and that of the party he leads — is dented. The president’s silence is becoming deafening.
HeraldLIVE