De Lille challenges president on corruption
PATRICIA de Lille, leader of the Good party, has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove those who are implicated in corruption from the ANC’s list of parliamentary representatives.
De Lille was speaking at the launch of her new party’s election manifesto.
“We are at the moment, a country of public inquiries, which is very good because at least the president is attempting to do something openly and transparently especially about the issue of corruption.
“I think the president must also take the country into his confidence by explaining to South Africans what is going to happen to the people implicated in corruption.
“We know that people are innocent until proven guilty, but I think there is an opportunity for the president, when they announce the list of candidates, to exclude some of the people until their names have been cleared,” said De Lille.
Ramaphosa is expected to deliver his second State of the Nation address. It will be the last of the fifth administration, due to the elections later this year.
Over past weeks, a number of ANC officials have been implicated in testimony given at the Zondo commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture.
De Lille said she expected Ramaphosa to send a stern message to those implicated, and assured South Africans that corruption was viewed in a serious light. “I need to hear a plan from the president, on what will happen once these commissions have ended.
The ANC has previously said it still has to screen the candidates who have been selected to represent the party in Parliament.
The party added that it could not give a final deadline on when this process will be completed.
A few weeks after stepping down as Cape Town mayor and a member of the DA, De Lille took a few by surprise when she announced that she would be launching a new political party.
Following her resignation, nine councillors resigned from the DA in the City of Cape Town.
De Lille said under her new party, there would be access to land, education and economic justice. “Land plus title must be given to residents living in informal settlements, families who have been long standing government rental stock tenants in good standing, should have the opportunity to own their home,” said De Lille.
Her party did not support the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation, she said. The Constitution provided all the framework needed for expropriation, and therefore there was no need to amend it, she added.