ConCourt declares Ramaphosa impeachment block unlawful

The Constitutional Court has ruled that Parliament acted unconstitutionally when it voted against adopting a report that found there may be grounds to impeach President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal. In a landmark judgment, the apex court ruled in favour of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM), who challenged the National Assembly’s December 2022 decision to reject the Section 89 panel report. Chief Justice Mandisa Maya apologised for the delay in delivering judgment before outlining the court’s findings.

The court found that parliament’s vote rejecting the report was inconsistent with the constitution and invalid because MPs were influenced by a material error of law. It was ruled that there was a proper basis to overlook delays in the application brought by the EFF and ATM, despite arguments from Ramaphosa that the challenge had been filed too late. The court further found that parliament’s impeachment rules themselves were largely constitutional, but declared Rule 129(i) unconstitutional and invalid.

The case now returns to Parliament under the Section 89 impeachment process, which allows the National Assembly to investigate whether Ramaphosa committed serious violations of the Constitution or the law. In 2020, more than 500 000 US dollars was allegedly stolen from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo. The scandal only became public two years later when former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser, accused Ramaphosa and his security team of trying to conceal the burglary instead of following proper legal processes.

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An independent Section 89 panel later found there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious violations of the Constitution and the law. However, ANC MPs voted against adopting the panel’s report in Parliament in December 2022, effectively stopping impeachment proceedings at the time.

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