ActionSA says it will pressurise President Cyril Ramaphosa when he appears in Parliament later this week and seek accountability on Justice Minister Thembi Simelane. The party was briefing the media on how it fared in the 100 days as one of the newcomers in the 7th Parliament.
ActionSA says it received fewer seats than it had anticipated after the May general elections. However, it says it has more compared to others that have been in Parliament for years, adding it will use President Cyril Ramaphosa’s question and oral session on Thursday to ask about Justice Minister Thembi Simelane and her VBS loan.
“There will be an opportunity to take up all the issues, all the correspondence, every comment we have made, the charges that we have laid the letters to the public protector, the letter to the speaker. We will be raising all those issues and the fact that there has been radio silence from all the people in this regard,” says Athol Trollip, ActionSA Parliamentary Leader.
The party also says it’s not going to let the Phala Phala farm scandal rest because it believes that there is a prima facie case, despite the NPA saying it won’t prosecute.
“If you or I were found with 580 dollars in our couch, we would have to answer in a court of law because that is a criminal offence in itself. Where the money came from, that’s another matter; where the money went to that’s another matter; and how they get it back that’s another matter. There’s contravention of the foreign exchange matter and the president must account for that,” Trollip added.
Regarding recent developments in the City of Tshwane, the party says it is about protecting itself.
“We are now completely independent. The voters out there are aware that ActionSA is actually a totally independent political party. It’s not aligned to any other party. We will always act in the interest of the people of SA and protect our own political party,” says Herman Mashaba, ActionSA Leader.
The party also says it has written to Parliament’s Joint Constitutional Review Committee, calling for reforms to bar compromised people from becoming members of Parliament.
Video: ActionSA is briefing the media in Parliament
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