Senior Cabinet minister Blade Nzimande says under-fire President Cyril Ramaphosa has a right to launch a review of the Phala Phala report.
Image: Siyasanga Mbambani / GCIS
Senior Cabinet minister and SACP leader Blade Nzimande has defended President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to challenge the Section 89 panel report on the Phala Phala scandal, saying the president has the same right to appeal as any other citizen.
“The President has a right to take the report on review, just like everybody else has a right to appeal,” said Nzimande, who is also an ANC member.
“Our view is that processes that have been outlined will take place and be followed through, such that the matter is brought to finality.
Nzimande, who is the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation in the Government of National Unity (GNU), said Ramaphosa had the right to review the panel’s findings.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the National Orders ceremony, where 36 recipients were honoured at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria on Tuesday.
“Even if he is sentenced to some years, he has a right to say, I will appeal. Similarly, the President has got a right to appeal, and, of course, Parliament will set up its own processes,” he told the public broadcaster.
The comments come as Ramaphosa plans a legal challenge to the Section 89 independent panel report into the Phala Phala scandal.
Ramaphosa recently announced that, following advice from his legal team, he would take the report by the panel chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo on judicial review.
This comes after the Apec court paved the way for a public impeachment hearing into Ramaphosa’s conduct in the Phala Phala saga.
The apex court ruled that Rule 129I of the National Assembly’s rules was unconstitutional and invalid.
It also overturned the National Assembly’s December 2022 decision not to refer the Section 89 panel report on Ramaphosa’s conduct in the Phala Phala matter to an impeachment committee.
The panel found that Ramaphosa had questions to answer over the theft of $580,000 hidden in a sofa at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in February 2020.
The Constitutional Court ordered that the report be referred to an impeachment committee.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing related to the Phala Phala saga and maintained that the report was “flawed”.
He also said he would not resign following calls from political parties for him to step down.
Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza declined to comment on the matter.
“Well, that process is ongoing, but I think today we give the honors to the people we are celebrating today,” Didiza said on the sidelines of the National Orders ceremony.
The developments come as Ramaphosa looks set to interdict the Phala Phala impeachment process, in a move aimed at stalling the Section 89 committee proceedings following the Constitutional Court ruling.
This follows reports that Ramaphosa has decided to delay the impeachment proceedings, with the ANC throwing its weight behind the move.
Ramaphosa is reportedly planning to file an urgent court interdict aimed at blocking the establishment of an impeachment committee following the Constitutional Court ruling on the Phala Phala scandal.
This came after Didiza announced the formation of a 31-member impeachment committee to process the Section 89 report.
Senior Cabinet Minister Blade Nzimande says President Cyril Ramaphosa has the right to take the Phala Phala report on review, like any other citizen.
Image: File
The committee consists of members from most political parties represented in the National Assembly.
Parties must submit their nominations for the committee by May 22.
The committee will conduct an inquiry to determine whether sufficient grounds exist for the president’s removal.
Didiza’s decision followed the Constitutional Court ruling that Parliament acted unconstitutionally in December 2022 when it used the ANC majority to block an impeachment inquiry into Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal.
IOL News previously reported that legal experts said Ramaphosa’s intention to launch a review application of the Section 89 panel report in relation to the Phala Phala saga was likely to face significant challenges.
Senior lecturer at the Wits School of Law, Dr Shadi Maganoe, said it would not be easy for Ramaphosa to succeed in a judicial review of the Section 89 panel report.
“It would likely be difficult,” she previously told IOL News.
“Courts are generally cautious about interfering in parliamentary internal processes, including their accountability procedures, especially at a preliminary stage.
“The President would probably need to demonstrate procedural unfairness, irrationality, factual errors or that the panel exceeded its mandate, therefore arguing the principle of legality as well. Mere disagreement with the panel’s conclusions is unlikely to be enough.”
Meanwhile, following the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting last week, the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, announced that the NEC had unanimously reaffirmed its full and continuing support for Ramaphosa.
Mbalula said the NEC was not asked to consider a recall or resignation for Ramaphosa and that the president’s mandate from party branches remained intact until the next national elective conference in 2027.
He added that the NEC fully endorsed Ramaphosa’s decision to launch a High Court review of the Section 89 independent panel report into the Phala Phala farm scandal.
simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za
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