DA rubs salt in Ramaphosa’s wound
'Opposition MPs are calling for greater clarity and, as usual, are looking for ways to embarrass the president and the government,' says political economy analyst Daniel Silke.
President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: The Citizen
As the recent irregular trip by ANC heavyweights to Zimbabwe, facilitated by Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, continues to haunt President Cyril Ramaphosa in parliament, a leading political economy analyst says the incident caught Ramaphosa off-guard.
Commenting on Ramaphosa’s oral replies to questions by Democratic Alliance (DA) MPs Cathlene Labuschagne and Armand Benjamin Cloete in the National Council of Provinces yesterday, Daniel Silke said in getting to the bottom of procedural irregularities surrounding the trip opposition party MPs sought to embarrass the president.
“Opposition MPs are calling for greater clarity and, as usual, are looking for ways to embarrass the president and the government. There are procedural issue that have to be clarified in terms of the handling of the matter during lockdown, the financial aspects and the use of state resources by a political party.
“It will all come down to the role of the president, with the report by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane seemingly putting the matter to rest. The question is whether she [Mkhwebane] is prepared to take on irregularities and lay the blame on the president, or whether she thinks it may be prudent for her to find middle ground in solving the issue,” said Silke.
Responding to Labuschagne’s question on when he was informed of the flight and on what grounds he approved the trip, Ramaphosa reiterated he approved Mapisa-Nqakula’s September trip verbally – as he was out of Gauteng – later giving written consent.
Ramaphosa said: “The grounds were that she was to have a bilateral with her Zimbabwean counterpart. The trip had to deal with security matters in the region and pertaining to one SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) member state.”
Mapisa-Nqakula was reprimanded for making use of an SA Air Force jet to ferry the ANC delegation to Zimbabwe. Asked by Cloete whether the trip – during lockdown – contravened disaster regulations banning foreign travel, Ramaphosa said the public protector inquiry process was still under way on that matter.
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