MPs slam ‘quiet’ Ramaphosa
SPARKS flew in Parliament in the debate on the State of the Nation Address with opposition parties demanding President Cyril Ramaphosa get more people implicated in the Bosasa saga.
The government has been under fire from opposition MPs in the past two days. The DA, IFP, African Christian Democratic Party and AgangSA yesterday said the government had let the country down.
AgangSA MP Andries Tlouamma said Ramaphosa had kept quiet during former president Jacob Zuma’s years when institutions were run down.
He also said Ramaphosa did not say a word when the Bosasa scandal was unfolding.
The IFP’s Mntomuhle Khawula said nothing had changed since Zuma left office last year.
“Millions of South Africans rejoiced the day former president Zuma exited office. The so-called new dawn promised that things were going to change for the better. Little did we know that the new dawn might not actually be what it was dressed up to be,” said Khawula.
He said the people responsible for the nine lost years had not been kicked out of the government.
The DA’s Geordin Hill-Lewis said the government had done nothing in the past nine years.
He said no one had been locked up for the lost years and the corruption and state capture that followed.
This was despite the explosive evidence at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and the other commissions.
Several senior ANC figures have been implicated in corruption allegations in the commissions.
Ramaphosa has said he will wait for the reports to be finalised before action is taken.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi defended the policies of the government.
Motshekga said preparations had already begun to transfer early childhood development from Social Development to Basic Education. This came after Ramaphosa’s announcement last week.
She also said they were addressing the pit-latrine toilet issue.
Motsoaledi said they were fast-tacking the phasing-in of the National Health Insurance system. The bill will be introduced soon.