Chairperson of the Subcommittee on Review of Assembly Rules, Doris Mpapane.
Image: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament
The proposed amendments to the presidential impeachment rules will be referred for consideration to the meeting of the Rules Committee next week.
This comes after the Sub-committee on Review of Assembly Rules met on Thursday evening to receive a seven-page report on suggested presidential impeachment rules and a 39-page document detailing rules and guidelines for a Section 89 inquiry.
Parties had been afforded an opportunity to make inputs in writing after the drafts were sent to the members.
State law advisor Andrew Breytenbach said the suggestions on presidential impeachment rules followed the judgment by the Constitutional Court setting aside the vote of the National Assembly taken in December 2022, when it declined to refer the report of the Independent Panel to an Impeachment Committee.
The judgment declared the 129I parliamentary rule, which deals with the removal of the president, inconsistent with the Constitution and provided a read-in provision pending an amendment.
Breytenbach said the amendments were certain technical corrections to ensure consistency of language in the Section 89 rules and aligned the rules with the outcome of court proceedings.
He also said the amendment ensured consistency of the rules with the impeachment process.
DA chief whip George Michalakis made a proposal for the insertion of the words fit and proper in the type of members who must compose the Impeachment Committee.
“This is not just an ordinary portfolio committee, and I do think the requirement for this committee to function with integrity and higher ethical standards is important,” Michalakis said.
EFF MP Sam Matiase described it as opportunistic to want fit and proper people to serve on the committee, as MPs were determined as such when they were sworn in to office.
“If the matter was not raised at that point, a member sworn-in holds the same rights and entitlements of any member in this House,” Matiase said.
However, ANC MP Mikateko Mahlaule noted that there was a court judgment on the selection of MK parliamentary leader to the Judicial Services Committee despite being eligible to serve on any parliamentary committee, saying Parliament erred.
Mahlaule said National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza should seek legal opinion on the proposal by Michalakis.
“On the side of caution, let us have a legal opinion so that even in the Impeachment Committee, judges do not arrive at the same conclusion if the matter is taken to court.”
Mahlaule also said in the Hlophe matter, it was Parliament that lost, not the parties.
“This time, we must not be found on the wrong side of the law when we have the opportunity to seek legal opinion on the constitutionality of what we are doing. It borders on the side of caution, not anything else,” he said.
MK Party MP Mzwanele Manyi backed the proposal by Mahlaule, saying things can be situational and decisions sometimes taken because of context.
“He is saying let us err on the side of caution. We must take this matter to independent lawyers outside this House so that they give us an opinion,” Manyi said.
Committee Chairperson Doris Mpapane said they adopted the suggested rules with the amendment of the insertion of a fit and proper person, as proposed by Michalakis, subject to a legal opinion.
The draft detailed document on the impeachment rules will be refined to a comprehensive framework that will guide the Section 89 process on the removal of the president.
Secretary to the National Assembly Masibulele Xaso said the draft impeachment rules will be referred to the Rules Committee for adoption next week on Tuesday and then the House on Thursday.
“We take it that the rules are adopted with amendments. We will develop a report and make reference to documents to the Impeachment Committee as a guide to develop their own terms of reference,” said Xaso.