Judgment reserved in Ramaphosa’s bid to overturn Phala Phala report
The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s application to review and set aside the Section 89 Independent Panel report into the Phala Phala farm scandal.
The three-day hearing centred on the panel’s November 2022 finding that there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa had a case to answer over the theft of about US$580,000 from his Limpopo farm in 2020.
Ramaphosa’s legal team argued that the panel applied the wrong legal standard, relied on untested evidence and exceeded its mandate when it concluded that he may have committed serious violations warranting an impeachment process.
Opposition parties, including the MK Party and the EFF, urged the court to dismiss the review. Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, representing the MK Party, argued that the High Court lacked jurisdiction to set aside a report that had already been acted on following a Constitutional Court ruling directing Parliament to proceed with the matter.
The opposing parties maintain that Ramaphosa’s version should be tested before Parliament’s Section 89 Impeachment Committee rather than through a judicial review of the panel’s preliminary findings.
Public impeachment hearings remain interdicted while the court considers Ramaphosa’s review application.
The court said it would deliver its judgment as soon as possible.
