President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the South Africa-Tanzania Business Forum during his first State Visit to Dar es Salaam in the United Rpublic of Tanzania. 15/08/2019; photo:Yandisa Monakali
Nowhere to hide as Ramaphosa faces tough parliamentary questions
A tough day at the office for Ramaphosa, then, but no-one ever said it was going to be easy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the South Africa-Tanzania Business Forum during his first State Visit to Dar es Salaam in the United Rpublic of Tanzania. 15/08/2019; photo:Yandisa Monakali
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s political mettle will be severely tested in the National Assembly this afternoon when he faces half a dozen tough questions from MPs on flashpoints in the national political discourse.
Parliamentary questions must be answered fully and correctly or there will be severe consequences, as Ramaphosa learnt last year when, in a surprising rookie error, a poor answer to a question by DA leader Mmusi Maimane opened the lid on what has become the damaging saga of contributions to Ramaphosa’s successful CR17 bid to become the President of the ANC.
Probing the president’s electoral campaign
The first question he will face this afternoon will come from ANC MP and veteran campaigner for women’s rights Judy Hermans. She will be asking him what he is going to do about the declining economic growth rate and the growing unemployment rate given the country’s current economic challenges, including the mismanagement of state-owned enterprises.
Second to go will be Maimane, who will be asking the President when he will be setting up a judicial commission of inquiry into the donations the CR17 campaign received. Following Maimane’s question, EFF leader Julius Malema will drive the stake in deeper, asking Ramaphosa why he said he did not know about such donations if his central role in them is becoming progressively clearer.
ANC MP Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo will then put a question on the country’s state of readiness to implement the National Health Insurance. There will be no respite for the head of state because that pesky IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa will proceed with a question regarding which aspects of the findings by the Presidential Panel on Land Reform Ramaphosa will implement, and which he intends not to accept.
A tough day at the office for Ramaphosa
The last question of the day is a somewhat unclear probe by Freedom Front Chief Whip Dr Corne Mulder on what Ramaphosa is planning to do regarding the fostering of national reconciliation. In such questions the devil is often in the follow-up, and Ramaphosa will know not to underestimate Mulder’s abilities in this regard.
A tough day at the office for Ramaphosa, then, but no-one ever said it was going to be easy!
