The impeachment committee tasked with leading an inquiry into South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala scandal held its first meeting on June 1, during which it elected the chief whip of the Rise Mzansi party, Makashule Gana, as the committee's chairperson, Eyewitness News reported on the same day. Following the election, parliamentary leader of the left-wing populist uMkhonto we Sizwe Party John Hlophe argued that Gana would be biased in favor of Ramaphosa because lawmakers aligned with South Africa's coalition government backed his election as chairperson, claiming that these ties would erode the credibility of the impeachment inquiry.