The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) vehemently rejects the blatantly unconstitutional composition of Parliament’s Impeachment Committee established to consider the Section 89 Report on President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Parliament as per the Constitutional Court directive has established a committee to consider the Section 89 Report. The Committee unlike other Parliamentary Committees must accommodate all 18 parties represented in the legislature.
Whilst COSATU appreciates Parliament’s desire to manage the number of Members of Parliament in the Committee, its decision on how parties will be represented on it is simply unconstitutional.
The Committee has been capped at 31 Members in an effort to include all 18 political parties, including those with negligible representation in Parliament. However, this has been done at the expense of the largest party in Parliament, the African National Congress (ANC), which in proportion to its representation is entitled to at least 12 Members or 40%, instead it has been allocated 9 or 30%.
This directly undermines the electorate which saw fit in the 2024 national elections to provide the ANC with 40% of the seats in Parliament. Any attempt to dilute the will of the electorate in the composition of Parliamentary Committees not only undermines its own rules but is in direct conflict with the Constitutional requirement of proportional representation in Parliament and its Committees. It is a shocking attempt to negate the will of the public and is ripe for legal challenge. It is rank political amateurishness at best, and constitutional vandalism at worst.
COSATU urges Parliament to avoid playing fast and loose with its constitutional obligations, lest it be hauled before court once again. The Impeachment Committee must reflect the outcomes of the 2024 elections and the representation of various parties in Parliament, this includes the 40% representation the ANC is legally entitled to. If this means the Committee must be enlarged, so be it.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za