Amid calls for the impeachment process to go-ahead despite President Cyril Ramaphosa's review application, the EFF and the ATM want National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to oppose the President's legal application.
Image: GCIS
Political parties want the Constitutional Court’s orders regarding the Phala-Phala matter to be implemented without delay, despite the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to take the report of the Independent Panel on judicial review.
Both the EFF and the ATM want National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to oppose Ramaphosa's review application.
On Monday, Ramaphosa said the apex court has made no finding of any kind regarding his alleged conduct.
“Instead, the Constitutional Court judgment reinforces the principles, rights and processes underpinning our constitutional order. This explicitly includes the right to take the report of the independent panel on review,” said Ramaphosa.
His decision came hours after National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza announced that she will constitute the Impeachment Committee and refer the Independent Panel’s report to the committee as directed by the Constitutional Court.
Didiza also said she will refer the judgment to the Subcommittee on the Review of Rules to consider and process the amendments to Rule 129I that governs the processing of Section 89 matters.
“The Subcommittee will report on its work to the Rules Committee, which will in turn submit its recommendations to the National Assembly for consideration,” she said.
The court has provided a read-in provision that allows for the Independent Panel’s report to be referred to the Impeachment Committee pending the amendment of the Rule 129I to govern the processing of Section 89 matters.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said his party will join the review application in opposition to Ramaphosa and demand that the matter to be treated with urgency.
“The EFF will pursue legal advice on whether Ramaphosa’s review application has any bearing whatsoever on the binding Constitutional Court order directing Parliament to refer the Section 89 Panel report to an Impeachment Committee. It is our considered view that the review application does not in any way impede or halt the impeachment process, and that it must proceed uninterrupted,” he said,
Thambo also said they expected Didiza to continue with the establishment of the Impeachment Committee and that she should provide a detailed timeline on when the committee should begin its work.
Thambo said the EFF also expected Didiza to oppose Ramaphosa’s review application.
ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said the judicial review should not suspend the impeachment process.
“Any further delay in the proper processing of this matter, particularly through the introduction of what appears to be a judicial review process, stands in direct contradiction to the spirit of the Constitution and the demands of justice,” Ntshona said.
He added that they expected Didiza to defend the integrity of Parliament.
“She must be the first to challenge any attempt that seeks to render Parliament useless in its constitutional mandate of holding the executive accountable,” said Ntshona.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said Ramaphosa’s decision to take the Section 89 Panel report on review must not be used to delay the work of Parliament.
Hill-Lewis noted that it is Ramaphosa’s legal right to approach the high court, but he should bring any review application with due haste and on an expedited basis.
“Parliament must also now take urgent legal advice on the implications of the President’s incoming review, including whether it affects the establishment and work of the impeachment committee, or whether the committee may proceed while the review is underway,” he said.
IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said Parliament was duty-bound to implement the judgment and establish the processes and structures required under Section 89 of the Constitution, including the impeachment committee.
“The parliamentary process, particularly the amendment and regularisation of Parliament’s rules to ensure compliance with the Constitutional Court judgment, can and must proceed in parallel with the President’s review application,” Hlengwa said.
He also said the impeachment process cannot be delayed by legal proceedings where applicable.
The official opposition, uMkhonto weSizwe Party, said they have submitted proposed amendments to the parliamentary rules, to Didiza.
“The amendment proposes that once an independent panel makes a positive prima facie finding, the matter must automatically proceed to a full evidentiary inquiry before the Impeachment Committee without requiring further political vote to activate the process,” spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said.
Ndhlela urged Didiza to urgently convene the Rules Committee to process the amendments with urgency to ensure compliance of the Constitutional Court judgment and the Constitution.