Cape Town – Members of the ANC in Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) reportedly used their majority to vote down a proposal for President Cyril Ramaphosa to appear before the committee to answer questions about the misuse of state funds for political campaigns.
According to EWN, the decision was taken on Wednesday night.
The proposal to call Ramaphosa before the committee stemmed from a complaint made by suspended ANC MP Mervyn Dirks, calling on the president to account for the remarks he made in a leaked recording of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting.
In the recording, Ramaphosa could be heard admitting that the ANC used public funds for party purposes, and implied that the funds came from the State Security Agency (SSA).
ALSO READ: Leaked audio: Cyril Ramaphosa’s response to Scopa on alleged state funds abuse
Dirks wrote a letter to the Scopa last year, bringing the contents of the audio to its attention.
Scopa then gave Ramaphosa ten to seven days to explain the comments he made in writing.
In his response, Ramaphosa said that he did not have any direct or specific information on the alleged misuse of public funds for the ANC’s internal party political purposes, according to Times Live.
“{I do not have any information in my possession that could assist the committee (Scopa) in this respect,” the report quoted Ramaphosa as saying.
Many political parties and individuals were unimpressed by Ramphosa’s response.
A proposal to call him to physically answer before the Scopa was then tabled.
ALSO READ | Leaked audio: Cyril Ramaphosa ‘needs to confirm what he knows about that clip’, says UDM leader Holomisa
However, according to The Citizen, all ANC Members of Parliament (MP) in the committee voted against it, and all the opposition MPs, from the Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and African Transformation Movement (ATM) voted in favour.
ANC Scopa members said the committee should wait for the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture to release its final report to see what it says regarding the State Security Agency (SSA).
The final report will be released at the end of this month.
But EFF’s Scopa member Veronica Mente said her party will explore other avenues to hold Ramaphosa accountable.
“I note the outcome and wish to register that we, as the EFF, will explore other avenues in dealing with this particular matter of a person that can be shielded from accountability by the majority,” the report quoted Mente as saying.
Meanwhile, the Scopa will meet again next Wednesday to discuss how it will carry out its probe.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/@PresidencyZA
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
