By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Parliament’s Section 89 Impeachment Committee delayed the appointment of evidence leader to widen the pool of candidates and to address a conflict of interest surrounding other nominees.
The committee met on Wednesday to deliberate on who parliament should appoint as evidence leader for the committee.
The committee was established probe misconduct claims against President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Phala Phala matter.
On Friday, the Western Cape High Court is expected to hand down judgment in Ramaphosa’s application to interdict the impeachment proceedings.
Of a list of nine nominations, five of them indicated their willingness to lead the evidence in the matter.
The committee was informed that Parliament’s legal team had conducted due diligence on the nominated candidates, assessing their availability and whether they met the requirements set by the committee.
Parliament’s legal team told the committee that several of the nominated advocates were unavailable, while one candidate did not meet the requirements set by the committee.
Legal adviser Sueanne Isaac said the process involved contacting nominated legal practitioners to determine whether they met the criteria and whether they were available to serve.
“The process we used was to call the people and ask them whether they met the criteria that the committee had resolved against,” Isaac said.
Advocate Taki Madima SC indicated that he was unavailable, while Advocate Kate Hoffmeyr SC confirmed that she was available.
She said Advocate Eshad Cohen did not meet the committee’s requirement of 15 years’ experience because he was currently a junior advocate.
The legal team also raised concerns around Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana SC, who had indicated that he was available, but whose nomination was flagged during Parliament’s due diligence process.
Isaac further informed the committee that Advocate Marumo Moerane SC and Advocate Doran Goldberg were unavailable, while Advocate Ismail Jami and Advocate Pule Seleka were available.
Committee chair Makashule Gana reminded members that their role was to make a recommendation to Parliament, which remains the appointing authority.
Members of the committee asked for a postponement as they felt the list of options was too short, and wished to add names to the list before coming to a decision.
Political parties were given until Friday, 24 July at 6pm to provide additional nominations, with the committee to convene again on 29 July 2026.