All eyes on Friday as court rules on Ramaphosa impeachment bid
Ramaphosa is separately challenging the panel's findings through a judicial review, which is scheduled to be heard from September 2 to 4.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will learn this week whether he can temporarily halt Parliament’s impeachment process against him as the Western Cape High Court prepares to deliver judgment in his urgent application.
The full bench of the High Court in Cape Town is expected to hand down its ruling at 10 am on Friday, following a two-day hearing into Ramaphosa’s bid to stop the Section 89 impeachment proceedings.
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The President is seeking an urgent interdict to suspend the parliamentary process pending the outcome of his review application challenging the findings of the independent Section 89 panel that investigated the Phala Phala matter.
The latest legal battle follows a Constitutional Court ruling in May, which ordered that the independent panel’s report on the Phala Phala scandal be returned to Parliament, clearing the way for impeachment proceedings to continue.
The panel, chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, concluded in November 2022 that there was prima facie evidence suggesting Ramaphosa may have breached Section 96(2)(a) of the Constitution and Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA).
The panel had been tasked with determining whether the President committed an impeachable offence arising from the theft of foreign currency at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020.
Ramaphosa is separately challenging the panel’s findings through a judicial review, which is scheduled to be heard from September 2 to 4.
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Committee presses ahead
Despite the pending court ruling, Parliament’s 31-member Impeachment Committee is expected to continue with its preparatory work when it meets on Wednesday.
Committee chairperson Makashule Gana said the committee remains bound by Parliament’s mandate unless directed otherwise by the courts.
“What’s also encouraging, at least for me as the chairperson, is the final inputs by the president’s council that indicate that the work of the committee so far is the preparatory work,” said Gana.
So, the appointment of the evidence leaders, the preparation of the witnesses, the finalisation of the terms of reference, and all the work they are not seeking to interdict. But in any case, we’re not going to stop until the court has made a determination.
Last month, the National Assembly adopted amended rules governing the impeachment process, paving the way for the committee to begin its work while Ramaphosa pursued his urgent court application.
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Friday’s ruling is expected to determine whether the committee can continue with its work while the President’s challenge to the independent panel’s report remains before the courts.
