The parliamentary impeachment committee. (Photo: Phando Jikelo/Parliament)
The parliamentary impeachment committee will be informed on Thursday about pres. Cyril Ramaphosa’s urgent court application to stop the committee’s operations.
The impeachment committee, which must decide whether Ramaphosa should be placed in a state of impeachment, will receive an information session from the parliament’s legal services about Ramaphosa’s urgent application.
It is expected that a decision will also be made on Friday about who qualifies to serve as members of the committee. The committee had earlier requested a legal opinion to obtain clarity on the inclusion of John Hlophe.
Hlophe, a former judge,’s inclusion led to a lot of public debate because he himself was placed in a state of accusation and removed as a judge.
Last week, Ramaphosa submitted an urgent application to the Western Cape High Court to stop the committee’s activities.
Ramaphosa requested the court to prohibit the committee from continuing with its work pending the finalization of its review application regarding the report of the independent panel on the Phala Phala events.
“Even if only part of the impeachment inquiry is undertaken before the review application is decided upon, considerable damage will have already been done,” argues Ramaphosa.
“In that case, the review court will be confronted with a situation in which consequences arising from the report have already occurred before the validity of the report has been determined. The effectiveness of the review procedures will be substantially undermined,” Ramaphosa believes and adds that in this case he will not be able to obtain substantial correction in time.
The committee’s establishment comes after the Constitutional Court found last month that parliament’s previous handling of the Phala Phala report was invalid.
The highest court found that certain aspects of the National Assembly’s (NA) rules on the process for removing a president from office are contrary to the Constitution. The court also ordered that the report of the independent panel be referred to the NA’s impeachment committee.
The case stems from the report of an independent panel appointed by the NV in September 2022 to conduct a preliminary investigation into allegations against Ramaphosa regarding the theft that took place on his farm in February 2020.
The NA voted on 13 December 2022 not to refer the panel’s report to an impeachment committee. The Constitutional Court has now ruled that this decision is set aside.
In his review application, Ramaphosa asks that the report be reviewed, declared illegal and set aside.