Patricia de Lille slams critics of Makashule Gana as ‘jealous’ and ‘childish’

GOOD leader Patricia de Lille has come to the defence of Makashule Gana after his election as chairperson of the impeachment committee, saying critics were driven by “jealousy” and that personal attacks on his appointment were “childish”.

Remarks made at GOOD event ahead of local elections

De Lille made the remarks on the sidelines of a GOOD event where Brett Herron was unveiled as the party’s candidate for Mayor of Cape Town in the 2026 Local Government Elections. She was joined at the event by RISE Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi and RISE Mzansi’s City of Johannesburg candidate Lukhona Mnguni.

The GOOD Party and RISE Mzansi had previously announced the unification of their campaigns into a new political partnership ahead of the 2026 local elections.

De Lille rejects personal attacks

De Lille said she was not impressed by the belittling of Gana, who was elected as committee chairperson. She described attacks on him as unprofessional and bad for parliamentary decorum.

“I’m not in the business of trying to belittle any honourable member of Parliament, because they’ve all been elected by the voters, and we must respect the choice that the voters have made. … It’s absolutely unprofessional, and not for the decorum of Parliament, to attack an individual the way they’ve attacked the chairperson,” De Lille said.

She added:

“They’re attacking the chairperson because they’re jealous. They’re attacking the chairperson, not even looking at his academic qualification, and I think it’s very childish to be personal about any member of Parliament.”

Good’s role in the Section 89 inquiry

Although GOOD and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) indicated they would not participate in the impeachment committee because each party has only one member in Parliament who also serves in the Executive, De Lille said that would not stop them from taking part in the Section 89 inquiry into the Phala Phala matter.

She noted that any committee and any member of Parliament is allowed to make a written submission. De Lille said the committee’s role is to make recommendations to the full National Assembly, where she intends to make GOOD’s input and take a stand based on those recommendations.

Gana on the committee’s work and impartiality

The article reports that Gana said the committee’s work can only be halted by a competent court and that no lawyer’s letter will stop them unless ordered by a court.

“No lawyer’s letter or anything (will stop us), unless the court decides that we should stop. We are continuing. We’re not going to be slowed by anything other than that,” Gana said.

On impartiality and how he will run the committee, Gana said:

“In terms of being impartial, we will be guided by the rules. I’m the chairperson of the committee. I need to treat all members with respect. You will be able to see in the way that we run the committee whether it is impartial. I don’t intend to look only on the side of those who supported my election.”

Gana also said they are preparing for their first meeting, which he intends to have “before we go on recess, so before the 26th of June.” He added:

“It’s now been seven days. We don’t need to go back there. We need to look forward. There’s work that’s happening. I’m now the chairperson of the committee. What people say or don’t say, it’s not for me; I have no control over what people say about me.”

What to watch next

The unfolding role of the impeachment committee and the written submissions to the Section 89 inquiry were identified as the next stages where parties such as GOOD will make their positions known to the National Assembly.