President Cyril Ramaphosa held one of his famous family meetings on Monday night and added another chapter to the unfolding drama that is Phala Phala farmgate.
This time, following advice from his lawyers, he decided to take the Phala Phala report on review.
His decision follows last Friday’s landmark Constitutional Court ruling, which found parliament’s December 2022 decision to block the section 89 Phala Phala report was unlawful.
The ruling ordered parliament to institute an impeachment committee against Ramaphosa over the findings of the 2022 section 89 independent panel, led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, that he had a prima facie case to answer surrounding the theft of more than $500,000 from his Phala Phala farm.
Parliament, at the behest of ANC MPs, had voted against the report in 2022, but the highest court in the land has now found that decision to be invalid and unlawful, as legislators did so without first subjecting the report to an impeachment committee.
Now, in what may seem like a delaying tactic or even an attempt to derail the work of parliament, Ramaphosa’s lawyers have advised him to challenge the four-year-old report in court, and the president has obliged.
We are yet to see what Ramaphosa’s cogent legal arguments will be in this legal battle, as he is yet to file his legal papers.
The president’s legal team advised him that the section 89 panel report is reviewable because it based some of its adverse findings against him on hearsay evidence.
Be that as it may, the president is within his rights to do so, and he has always indicated that he reserved his legal rights in this regard.
When he made his announcement, there were concerns that his judicial review application might immediately halt the impending proceedings of the impeachment committee.
And it is comforting to see the national legislature marching ahead in this regard, with one of the first important meetings in this groundbreaking matter due to take place this afternoon (May 13), when party chief whips gather to discuss the composition of the impeachment committee.
However, it is important to note that will not be the case because until there is an outcome in the president’s favour on this matter, parliament is obliged to proceed with the impeachment committee as ordered by the Constitutional Court.
And it is comforting to see the national legislature marching ahead in this regard, with one of the first important meetings in this groundbreaking matter due to take place this afternoon (May 13), when party chief whips gather to discuss the composition of the impeachment committee.
Many other key meetings are due to take place this week and beyond over Ramaphosa impeachment proceedings.
But what is concerning are reports that some sections of the ANC caucus remain prepared to close ranks around Ramaphosa no matter what, apparently even being prepared to fight for sweetheart terms of reference for the impeachment committee.
We hope sanity will prevail when the moment comes and such a silly idea would not see the light of day.
Otherwise, it would mean the ANC parliamentary caucus would not have learnt anything from the Constitutional Court judgement of last Friday, as far as their job of holding the executive to account and overall constitutional accountability are concerned.
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