By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Western Cape High Court in Cape Town has reserved judgment in the appeal lodged by the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and United Africans Transformation (UAT).
The parties went back to the High Court seeking leave to appeal its interdict that halted the oral testimony or public hearings of the Section 89 Impeachment Committee.
They want to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), after the Constitutional Court declined their application for direct access.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing impeachment over the search for his money that was stolen from his Phala Phala farm in 2020.
His lawyers told the court that at the current rate, he’s doubtful that Parliament’s Impeachment Committee will be ready to proceed with public hearings for at least two more months.
He said that an independent panel report that probed misconduct allegations against him is flawed.
His legal counsel, Advocate Geoff Budlender, said besides the interdict being rendered moot once the court considers the review next month, Parliament’s Impeachment Committee still has many hoops to jump through before it will be ready to hold public hearings.
“We say on the most optimistic assessment, the public hearings might commence sometime in the second half of October. By then, we submit, the review court would have decided, and this interim interdict would be moot,” said Budlender.
Budlender said at worst, the harm caused by the interdict will, at most, be a short delay to the continuation of the committee’s work.
“There’s no basis for a court to hear an appeal, to grant leave to appeal in respect of the interim order, because there’s no harm likely to transpire; at worst it will be for a very short period.”
Advocate Dali Mpofu for MK Party and UAT has argued it could take years for the High Court to take a decision in the review matter, and it could be followed by appeals.
“Nobody knows when the judgment will come. Judging by the time it took to do the EFF [Economic Freedom Fighters] judgment, it was 16 months. Let’s take half of that.”
Mpofu has told the bench that by interdicting Parliament’s proceedings, it has overstepped its powers.
“This court has thrashed onto the separation powers, and instructed Parliament, something that should not be done, on how it should conduct its business.”
But the judges have taken a dim view of the application.
The latest legal battle is another chapter in the long-running Phala Phala saga.
The matter began after the theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Limpopo farm became public and the ATM pushed for Parliament to investigate.
The subsequent Section 89 panel, chaired by Justice Sandile Ngcobo, found that there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa had a case to answer over the burglary and his handling of the money.
The National Assembly initially voted in December 2022 against establishing an impeachment committee.
In May this year, the Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to refer the Section 89 report to an impeachment committee, clearing the way for the process to resume.
Ramaphosa then launched his review application in the Western Cape high court, challenging the panel’s report. That review is expected to be heard in early September.