‘Ramaphosa unsaveable until he explains Phala Phala dollars,’ Mpofu argues in court
Advocate Dali Mpofu SC told the Western Cape High Court today, Friday that President Cyril Ramaphosa is “unsaveable” until he explains what hundreds of thousands of dollars were doing in a couch at Phala Phala and that the court has no power to set aside the report that put him on an impeachment path.
Appearing for the MK Party on the third day of the review, Mpofu argued the High Court lacks jurisdiction. After the Constitutional Court’s May order sending the Section 89 panel report to Parliament, he said, the report is “a child of the Constitutional Court.” A lower court cannot “unrefer” what the apex court has already directed.
He dismissed the application as delay. “All we are here for is to delay, delay, delay,” he said, calling it Stalingrad tactics to avoid answering to South Africans.
The unanswered questions, he told the bench, remain the same: where the dollars came from, who sent Major General Wally Rhoode to Namibia, what happened to the workers and to Lieutenant General Sindile Mfazi, and why buffaloes supposedly sold in 2019 are still on the farm. “There is no way out… he is unsaveable until he answers what those dollars were doing there.”
Quoting the Constitutional Court, Mpofu said “all powers have limits” and warned the court not to help the president evade Parliament. Judge Mark Sher pushed back on whether the panel’s finding was final in effect. Mpofu accepted it triggers an impeachment committee, but said it is not a final finding of guilt.
Judgment was reserved. If Ramaphosa loses, the impeachment committee can resume public hearings.
