The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the release and submission of the Section 89 panel report on the Phala Phala Farm affair to Parliament last week.  We will continue to monitor the evolution of this Parliamentary process in the National Assembly. Parliament should be allowed to play its oversight role without any outside intrusion.

We will allow both the President and the ANC to engage with and respond to this report. As an ally of the ANC, we intend to allow the organization to internally debate this matter without any interference and engage the President himself to hear his side of the story because this will have an impact on the country’s stability. We expect him to take the nation along with him on this matter because South Africans deserve it.  

The Federation remains committed to government answerability and the fight against corruption. We welcome the fact that this process has been open and public, this consolidates and strengthens our democracy. We commend the President for voluntarily cooperating with Parliament and relevant state institutions on this issue. We have utmost confidence in our constitutional processes and in the rule of law.

We believe that the calls for the President to step aside are premature considering that the report is yet to be subjected to scrutiny and has not been processed and finalized. It is only fair and just for him to be given an opportunity to read and dissect the report with his legal team to ensure that in the end justice prevails.

We urge the members of the ANC not to be tempted to use this ongoing and incomplete process to opportunistically fight their internal battles in the build-up to the ANC  55th National Conference.

The organisation needs to focus on the myriad of challenges bedeviling it and genuinely commit to a robust process of renewal. This is important if it is to reclaim its strategic high moral ground in society, which is key to deepening the national democratic revolution.

Issued by COSATU   

Sizwe Pamla (Cosatu National Spokesperson)
Tel: 011 339 4911
Fax: 011 339 5080
Cell: 060 975 6794