The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has welcomed the Constitutional Court’s landmark ruling forcing Parliament to reopen its investigation into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm scandal, but warned that the court dangerously overstepped its role by dictating how the National Assembly should run its internal affairs.
In a media statement, VF Plus leader Dr Corné Mulder said the party supports the judgment that the Independent Panel’s report, which found a prima facie case of serious constitutional or legal violations by the President, must now be referred to a parliamentary committee for further investigation.
The ruling invalidates the ANC-led majority’s December 2022 vote (214 to 148) that blocked any deeper probe into the 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s Limpopo game farm, where an estimated $580,000 in foreign currency was stolen, sparking allegations of cover-ups and improper conduct.
However, Mulder expressed deep concern that the court went beyond simply ordering Parliament to act. He argued that the ruling implies the entire Section 89 presidential removal process should be “simplified,” effectively making the independent expert panel redundant. This would allow a removal motion to proceed straight to a full parliamentary inquiry without a preliminary assessment or a National Assembly vote on whether to investigate the panel’s report.
“The Court has, therefore, not only ruled on what must happen but has also prescribed how the process should unfold in the future,” Mulder said. “This makes the Freedom Front Plus uncomfortable. The Court is encroaching too far into the domain of the legislature. It is in the interest of democracy that Parliament can act independently and without interference.”
While the ruling does not determine any guilt on the part of the President and has been hailed by opposition parties like the EFF and ATM as a victory for accountability, the VF Plus insists that the delicate balance between judicial oversight and parliamentary sovereignty must be respected.
Parliament has now been ordered to establish a committee to consider the report.