National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza
Image: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza will not oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bid to pause Parliament’s impeachment inquiry into the Phala Phala scandal.
Didiza filed a notice on Friday indicating that she would abide by whatever the Western Cape High Court decides.
She said she would submit an explanatory affidavit on or before Monday.
That leaves the 31-member impeachment committee and the ATM as the only parties opposing the president in court.
The committee voted on Thursday to fight his interdict application, while the ATM had already indicated it would oppose the bid.
The scandal stems from the theft of a large sum of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020.
An independent panel chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo later found prima facie evidence suggesting Ramaphosa had questions to answer regarding the theft of about US$580,000.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money came from the sale of buffalo on the farm.
In December 2022, the ANC used its parliamentary majority to block a formal impeachment inquiry from proceeding.
That appeared to close the matter.
But in May this year, the apex court ruled the National Assembly's 2022 vote was irrational, unconstitutional and invalid.
Parliament was compelled to establish a formal impeachment committee of 31 MPs from 16 political parties, chaired by Rise Mzansi's Makashule Gana.
His lawyers wrote to Didiza on June 3 requesting the process be paused.
She declined, saying parliamentary committees determined their own working arrangements.
Didiza was cited as the first respondent in the case because, as Speaker of the National Assembly, she is responsible for establishing and overseeing the impeachment committee.
She is also tasked with implementing the Constitutional Court’s order to proceed with the inquiry.
Unhappy with the decision, Ramaphosa filed an urgent application seeking to interdict the committee from proceeding with its work until his separate legal challenge to the panel report had been finalised.
In his court papers, he argued that allowing the inquiry to continue while the legality of the Section 89 report was still being challenged could cause him “irreparable” political and reputational harm.
The committee disagreed.
After a debate lasting nearly three hours on Thursday, chair Gana ruled that the prevailing view was that the committee must oppose the interdict.
The committee's legal adviser, Advocate William Mokhare SC, told members they were obligated to follow the Constitutional Court's order without delay.
ANC members had pushed for a softer approach, arguing the committee should simply file a notice to abide and leave any opposition to Didiza.
They were backed by smaller GNU partners but were defeated in the vote.
Her predecessors had taken similar positions in related matters, though she had previously said she was mindful of criticism directed at former Speaker Baleka Mbete for shielding former president Jacob Zuma from accountability in the Nkandla scandal.
The interdict application will be heard on July 15 and 16, while Ramaphosa's broader review challenge against the panel report is set for September 2 to 4.
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