By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Western Cape High Court will hear President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bid to overturn the Section 89 independent panel report on the Phala Phala matter from 2 to 4 September 2026.
Ramaphosa’s review application comes as the National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza announced the list of 31 MPs who will serve on the impeachment committee that will be headed by Gana Makashule.
This was after the Constitutional Court cleared the path for a public impeachment hearing into his conduct surrounding the theft of cash at his Phala Phala farm. The court found, that Rule 129I of the Rules of the National Assembly was unconstitutional and set it aside.
It also set aside the National Assembly vote in December 2022, in which it declined to refer Section 89 report to an impeachment committee.
The panel was unconvinced by Ramaphosa’s account of the theft of $580,000 from a couch in a room on his Phala Phala farm in February 2020, and did not accept his claims that the money had been the proceeds of a buffalo sale.
Its 82-page report found that the President had a case to answer over serious violations of the Constitution for exposing himself to a conflict of interest, doing outside paid work and contravening the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act.
Ramaphosa previously approached the Constitutional Court in 2022 for direct access to challenge the report. However, the court dismissed his request, and the application was later abandoned after the National Assembly vote rendered it moot.
Ramaphosa has now revived the matter in the Western Cape high court. His core argument, that the panel “misconceived its mandate, misjudged the information placed before it and misinterpreted the four charges” against him, is mostly unchanged; as is his contention that the panel made findings against him about matters outside of the four charges he was asked to respond to.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed to Fullview that the president has received the notification that the matter will be heard on the 2nd to 4th of September 2026.
Magwenya said, “president Ramaphosa has consistently emphasized his desire for all investigations and processes surrounding the Phala Phala matter to be speedily concluded.”
The president has also threatened to seek an urgent court order to halt impeachment proceedings if parliament moves ahead with the process while his legal challenge is pending.
The ANC holds about 40% of seats in the National Assembly, which means it should be able to shoot down any eventual impeachment vote, which would require a two-thirds majority to pass. The party’s leadership has said it fully backs the president.