President Cyril Ramaphosa was called a criminal and money launderer during Thursday’s budget debate, as the EFF delivered on their promise to disrupt proceedings.
Ramaphosa was prevented from giving his speech at Parliament’s Good Hope Chambers for more than an hour as the red berets heckled the president over the $4 million (more than R60 million) theft at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, in 2020.
As opposition parties demanded answers over the US dollars concealed at his farm, Ramaphosa in a shock move suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane with immediate effect on Thursday.
In a statement, his office said: “President Cyril Ramaphosa has, in accordance with section 194 (3)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, decided to suspend Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane from the office of the public protector effective 9 June 2022.”
Mkhwebane would remain suspended until an impeachment process in Parliament has been completed and her deputy would take over her duties.
The suspension comes a day after Mkhwebane began an investigation following a “complaint which relates to President Ramaphosa’s alleged conduct in respect of allegations of criminal activities at one of his properties, received last Friday from Mr Vuyo Zungula, MP, President of the African Transformation Movement (ATM).”
Minutes after her suspension, a defiant Mkhwebane tweeted: “Do not be deflected #glencore and #farmgate aluta continua.”
Back at Parliament, the EFF gave Ramaphosa the same treatment Jacob Zuma received during his tenure by repeatedly disrupting proceedings.
EFF deputy Floyd Shivambu called for a point of order, saying the party refused to be addressed by a criminal and a money launderer.
Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula asked him to withdraw his statements, to which he responded: “Point of order is that there’s not going to be any withdrawal for referring to Cyril Ramaphosa as a money launderer. That is a fact that has not been disapproved.”
Mapisa-Nqakula eventually had to order Shivambu out of the virtual platform while two other EFF MPs were kicked out of the venue.
When he eventually delivered his speech, Ramaphosa touched on the electricity problems and promised to bring in more capacity to curb the shortfall.
“What our people of SA want above all is to see their quality of life improving. They do not care about the political squabbles, the competitions between political parties, the intrigues, the plots and the rivalries.
“They want better basic services, jobs and opportunities to better themselves and to better the lives of their families. They want to live, study and work in environments free of crime and violence,” he said.
Ramaphosa is under pressure to disclose the full details of the alleged robbery on his farm.
The incident was not reported to the police.
Last week former State Security Agency boss Arthur Fraser claimed that Ramaphosa paid five skelms R150 000 each to conceal the incident after they were tortured.
He said that he had laid charges of money laundering, corruption, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice against the president.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za