Parliament appearance on ice as Cyril falls ill
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s scheduled appearance in parliament on Thursday has been shelved until further notice‚ parliament announced on Wednesday.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the decision was reached “based on medical advice” that Ramaphosa would not be able to appear before the National Assembly. “A new date for the president’s oral question session will be determined by the National Assembly programming committee‚” said Mothapo in a statement.
On Tuesday, the presidency announced that Ramaphosa had postponed a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to health reasons.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Joseph Kabila of the DRC will at a future stage ratify the agreements reached between the two countries at the 11th Session of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) currently under way in Kinshasa‚” said a statement on the presidency website.
“President Ramaphosa was due to travel to Kinshasa [on Monday] but was advised by doctors to recover from an upper respiratory tract infection before undertaking prolonged travel. The president is receiving medical attention and making a good recovery.”
Ramaphosa was expected to respond to questions about the government’s stimulus package.
● President Cyril Ramaphosa has instituted a commission of inquiry into “allegations of impropriety” at the Public Investment Corporation.
It will be headed by Justice Lex Mpati‚ the former president of the Supreme Court of Appeal‚ assisted by Gill Marcus and Emmanuel Lediga.
Mpati first rose through the ranks to become a judge in Makhanda in the Eastern
Cape.
The establishment of the commission was published in Wednesday’s edition of the Government Gazette‚ but Ramaphosa signed the proclamation instituting the commission on October 4.
The PIC manages government pension funds‚ among other funds.
According to the Gazette‚ the commission will look into the period from January 1 2015 to August 31 2018.
The commission‚ which has to provide an interim report to Ramaphosa by mid-February‚ has been tasked with making findings‚ reporting on and making recommendations on a number of areas‚ including: “Whether any alleged impropriety regarding investment decisions by the PIC in media reports in 2017 and 2018 contravened any legislation‚ PIC policy or contractual obligations and resulted in any undue benefit for any PIC director‚ or employee or any associate or family member of any PIC director or employee at the time.