Speaker Thoko Didiza.
Image: Henk Kruger / Independent Media
Parliament’s Impeachment Committee and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) have resolved to oppose the urgent application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa to interdict the committee from carrying out its work.
The Impeachment Committee on the Section 89 Enquiry met early on Thursday morning as the deadline for their responses to the urgent application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa to interdict the committee is on Friday.
Ramaphosa filed papers in the Western Cape High Court on Friday last week, seeking an interdict against National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and Impeachment Committee Chairperson Makashule Gana.
The president wants the committee barred from commencing the impeachment inquiry pending the decision on his review application regarding the Independent Panel report.
“I have attempted to persuade the Speaker and the Chairperson of the Impeachment Committee that, while the necessary preliminary steps should continue to be taken, the enquiry itself should not commence until the review application has been determined. Those attempts have not been successful,” Ramaphosa said.
The review application has been set down for September 2 to 4, 2026.
President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image: Zwelethemba Kostile / Parliament of RSA
In a three-hour meeting on Thursday, the committee discussed the legal opinion they received on the implications of the application and the committee’s constitutional obligations.
The committee chairperson, Makashule Gana, said that the committee not only resolved to oppose the urgent application, but that they have also resolved to request the Speaker of the National Assembly to join the committee in opposing the interdict.
“The president’s urgent application, launched on June 12, 2026, seeks to stop the committee from proceeding with the impeachment enquiry. The matter is scheduled to be heard in the Western Cape High Court on July 15 and 16, 2026.
“The committee exists because of an order of the Constitutional Court, which directed that the Independent Panel Report be referred to the Impeachment Committee for consideration in terms of the National Assembly Rules. That order remains binding unless set aside or varied by a competent court,” Gana said.
He had explained that the committee is cited in the proceedings through the chairperson in an official capacity, and that the committee’s role is to explain its constitutional obligations and protect its institutional ability to perform its functions.
“The committee has also noted an important jurisdictional issue that forms part of the legal debate before the court. The obligation to proceed arises from an order of the Constitutional Court, while the urgent interdict application will be heard in the Western Cape High Court.
“The courts will determine the legal implications of that distinction. Until a court grants an order directing otherwise, the committee remains bound by the Constitutional Court order and will continue to discharge its responsibilities diligently and without delay,” Gana said.
The committee will go ahead with their meeting on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, in which they will consider their draft terms of reference and the process of appointing evidence leaders.
Newly elected impeachment committee chair Makashule Gana says the committee will do its work fairly as Parliament reviews the Phala Phala allegations against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image: Facebook/Parliament
Spokesperson for the Office of the Speaker, Reggie Ngcobo, said that they are still awaiting the receipt of official correspondence and that she has not been lobbied.
“We haven’t received any letter from the chairperson, and it will be difficult to comment on a statement without receiving a formal letter.”
African Transformation Movement’s (ATM) Vuyo Zungula has said that opposition parties want National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to recuse herself from all matters related to the Impeachment Committee on the Section 89 Enquiry.
Image: Theolin Tembo/Independent Newspapers
Separately, the ATM's Parliamentary leader, Vuyo Zungula, filed their answering affidavit on Wednesday, in which they state that while the president contends that he will suffer irreparable harm if the impeachment committee is allowed to do its work while his review application remains pending, “the fundamental basis of this application - the president's perceived harm - is misplaced”.
“The president has no basis to fear that his dignity and reputation will be undermined by members of the committee or the impeachment process generally.
“The impeachment rules require the committee to conduct its business in a manner that is reasonable and procedurally fair. The president is entitled to insist on this rule being complied with.
“The purpose of the committee is to test whether the allegations against the president are ‘unfounded’. The rules give it the tools to do so - that is its very function. It is required to establish ‘the veracity ... and seriousness of the charges’. So, the application for an interim interdict fails at its first hurdle.”
They maintain that Ramaphosa has no reasonable apprehension that his right to dignity and reputation will be infringed.
They also said that there is nothing exceptional about his application, as his “complaints are general”, and that “none of the president's complaints in this application falls outside the general complaints that every president would be entitled to make”.