President Cyril Ramaphosa listens to debate in Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa Feb. 15, 2018, prior to being sworn in. Ramaphosa replaces Jacob Zuma who resigned Wednesday. (Mike Hutchings, Pool via AP)
Parliament has cancelled a planned session where President Cyril Ramaphosa was expected to respond to questions from members of the house.
On Wednesday parliamentary spokesperson Moloo Mothapo said “based on medical advice” that Ramaphosa would not be able to appear before the scheduled National Assembly sitting on Thursday.
“The sitting is, therefore, cancelled. A new date for the president’s oral question session will be determined by the National Assembly Programming Committee,” he said.
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Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane had earlier said he would ask Ramaphosa to explain allegations that he “had prior knowledge of theft and looting at VBS bank”.
“I have therefore today (Tuesday) written to the speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, requesting that an urgent oral question to the president be added to Thursday’s Order Paper in terms of Rule 141 of the National Assembly Rules. When President Ramaphosa appears in parliament to answer questions on Thursday, I will look to ask him the following question: On what date did he (a) first become aware of the involvement of executives in corruption and looting at the VBS Mutual Bank and (b) subsequently take action, if any, in this regard?”
The president also cancelled his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a scheduled binational commission on Monday.
The presidency said the cancellation was due to Ramaphosa’s chest infection.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko said: “President Ramaphosa was due to travel to Kinshasa yesterday, October 15, 2018, but was advised by doctors to recover from an upper respiratory tract infection before undertaking prolonged travel. The president is receiving medical attention and making a good recovery.”
She said the South African government has been in communication with the government of the DRC regarding the change in Ramaphosa’s schedule.
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