Constitutional Court Orders Parliament To Refer Ramaphosa Phala Phala Report To Impeachment Committee

South Africa’s Constitutional Court set aside the National Assembly’s vote from December 13, 2022 that rejected a Section 89 independent panel report recommending an impeachment inquiry against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal.

The court ordered that the vote be set aside, declared invalid and unconstitutional, and directed that the report must be referred to an impeachment committee, after finding the National Assembly failed to carry out its constitutional obligation to refer the report to an impeachment committee.

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In the underlying case, the panel found Ramaphosa committed serious misconduct and violated the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) by not properly reporting the theft at his Phala Phala farm, where an undisclosed amount of foreign currency was stolen from a sofa on February 9, 2020.

The EFF and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) brought the matter to the apex court, and the ruling followed a delay of more than 17 months, with Chief Justice Mandisa Maya apologising for the delay and saying she took “full responsibility.”

After the ruling, the EFF wrote to parliamentary speaker Thoko Didiza asking her to immediately initiate the process to constitute the impeachment committee to give effect to the court’s judgment.

EFF chief whip Nothando Nolutshungu said in the letter that “The Constitutional Court specifically rules that the National Assembly must refer the section 89 independent panel report to an impeachment committee,” and the EFF president Julius Malema demanded that “the impeachment committee must go to Phala Phala.”

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Labour and opposition voices framed the decision as a test of accountability, with ActionSA calling the ruling a “victory for accountabilty” and saying it was ready to participate in processes unfolding from the opposition benches.

DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed the court decision and said, “We will be guided by the facts, by the evidence placed before the committee, and by our constitutional duty,” while also insisting that “We will not prejudge the outcome.”

The Constitutional Court’s decision now opens the door for renewed parliamentary consideration of the impeachment process, after the court found Parliament acted unconstitutionally when it halted efforts to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022.

The stakes for Ramaphosa are tied to the court’s finding that the 2022 vote was invalid and that the independent panel report must be referred to an impeachment committee, with the process described as potentially taking many months by Chief Justice Mandisa Maya.

BBC reported that Ramaphosa said he will legally challenge the report that paved the way for parliament to consider impeachment proceedings, adding, “I remain here and am not resigning,” on Monday.

In the same BBC account, the president said he would ask the courts to review and set aside the report, arguing it relied on hearsay evidence, while political analyst Professor Richard Calland said the president would likely survive a parliamentary vote but that the legal challenge may be aimed at avoiding a damaging impeachment hearing altogether.