JOHANNESBURG - UCT associate professor, Richard Calland, said that the reasons given for him to withdraw from the panel that will look into President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm saga are not correct.
He has been replaced by senior advocate, Mahlape Sello, an evidence leader in the state capture inquiry.
It comes after objections by opposition parties that Calland would be biased towards the president, having spoken and written favourably about him in the past as a political commentator.
Calland has rejected this: "I did not conclude that that was a reasonable basis for saying that there was an apprehension of bias because the article they refer to, the statements I've made were A, a long time ago and B, out of context in some cases and third they failed to take into account that I've also been critical of the president."
He said that he was definitely not biased but the Speaker needed to decide.
"In my statement I made it absolutely clear in my letter to the Speaker last week that if she thought otherwise or if indeed the controversy over my appointment was in any way going to get in the way of the process, then the process would come first."
Although I strongly reject any allegation of bias, I have today in consultation with the Speaker accepted that it may not be in the best interest of the parliamentary process for me to serve as a member of the Section 89 Panel.
My full statement below: pic.twitter.com/iqcdcdZMM9
Richard Calland (@richardcalland) September 27, 2022
Calland said that he had been critical of the president over the Phala Phala saga and this contradicted the reasons for him not to be on the panel investigating it.
Calland said that he was objective on the matter.
"I wrote a piece for Mail & Guardian heavily criticising him for failing to honour his constitutional duty to account to Parliament."
But he said that opposition parties were making the most of the saga.
"The skill in the game they have is that this is the one kind of thing they have against the president, this is their one opportunity to damage him and so his opponents inside the ANC and outside the ANC in other parties are clinging on to this."
