Parliament will hold a special sitting of the National Assembly on December 6 to deal with the report of the independent panel of experts probing whether President Cyril Ramaphosa has a case to answer regarding the Phala Phala allegations.

National Assembly programming whip Mina Lesoma revealed on Thursday the house will extend its programme by a few days to process the much-awaited report, and that of the home affairs portfolio committee on the contentious Electoral Amendment Bill.

This comes a day after National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula extended the deadline for the panel's report to November 30, a day before parliament breaks for the Christmas recess.

“We are suggesting, having followed due processes in terms of consultations, that on December 6, a hybrid plenary must be scheduled to deal with those matters,” said Lesoma.

Her proposal was roundly welcomed by opposition MPs in the assembly's programming committee.

The EFF's Floyd Shivambu said it was important not to pin down December 6 as the last day and that MPs should be open to dealing with possible recommendations.

“Let us not close doors to what could be certain recommendations of that particular report,” he said.

The report will be made public before it goes to the house, MPs heard.

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