The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of the EFF, paving the way for an impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa in connection with the Phala Phala case.
Image: Phando Jikelo / Parliament of SA
President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to face tough questions in Parliament regarding the Phala Phala scandal, as opposition parties seize the opportunity to demand accountability following a landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court.
While Ramaphosa will be in Parliament on Thursday to answer oral questions about skills development, boosting employment opportunities, Operation Prosper and students’ debt, parties have warned that he should be prepared to account for Phala Phala too.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that Parliament's handling of the Phala Phala report was unconstitutional and invalid, ordering that the matter must return to Parliament's impeachment committee.
The landmark judgment, handed down on Friday morning, has been welcomed by opposition parties as a victory for accountability and the rule of law.
The Constitutional Court delivered three key findings in the matter of Economic Freedom Fighters and Another v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others (CCT 35/24): Rule 129I of the National Assembly is inconsistent with the Constitution and is invalid.
The National Assembly's vote rejected the Section 89 independent panel report as irrational and unconstitutional, and is therefore also invalid. The report must now be referred to Parliament's impeachment committee for a full parliamentary investigative process.
Since the Phala Phala judgment on Friday, parties have been resolute in their bid to get the president to account.
In separate letters to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, the African Transformation Movement (ATM) and Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) said they are invoking Section 102 of the Constitution to trigger a vote of no confidence, arguing that recent developments have undermined public trust.
The president will, however, be facing continued scrutiny as parties have said that they will ensure he is held accountable on Phala Phala, despite the questions for his appearance having already been formalised.
The MK Party has named Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi as Chief Whip in the National Assembly, succeeding Colleen Makhubele.
Image: MK Party
The MK Party’s Chief Whip, Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi, said that they will definitely use Thursday's Q&A session to raise the Phala Phala matters directly with Ramaphosa.
“We do not think this issue has been fully dealt with, and quite frankly, many South Africans are still sitting with more questions than answers. We have already put detailed questions to the president dealing with the SAPS processes, the suspension issues, and the appointment of the acting leadership linked to the same environment under investigation,” Mokoena-Zondi said.
“Those are serious concerns because people must have confidence that institutions are acting fairly and independently all the time. You cannot have a situation where an ordinary citizen will be expected to explain every cent, every transaction, every process, but when it involves the highest office in the country, suddenly things become vague or treated as politically sensitive, and that is what really frustrates people,” Mokoena-Zondi said.
“At the end of the day, South Africans are tired of seeing one standard for powerful politicians and another for everyone else, and that is the concern we'll be raising on Thursday.”
The Democratic Alliance’s newly elected parliamentary leader, George Michalakis, explained that while questions are set ahead of time, they will still “make use of every opportunity for accountability”.
“The main thing is that the (Parliament's impeachment) committee must now be set up because we can't do the impeachment hearing through questions in Parliament. We should do the impeachment hearing through the impeachment committee.
“I think the more urgent thing at this point is to get that going, and to establish the president's intentions, and whether he intends to appear before it,” Michalakis said.
“I know he has in a previous question and answer session before said that he would welcome any accountability, and I hope that's still his position going forward.”
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza.
Image: Supplied
ATM spokesperson, Zama Ntshona, said they are using a wait-and-see approach for now.
“We are waiting for the reply from the Speaker on the issue of the motion of no confidence. It's more like one of those times when we are saying 24 hours in politics may seem like a very long time, so it's a wait-and-see.
“Depending on the number of variables, we may ask those questions, pending on the number of variables, we may not.”
ActionSA spokesperson, Jacques de Villiers, said that while ActionSA was not allocated any questions to the president, “if we are allocated supplementary questions, and if the questions are relevant to the Phala Phala matter, we will ask questions to ensure that transparency and accountability are upheld”.
“Furthermore, ActionSA will pursue all parliamentary and legal avenues available to us to ensure the whole Phala Phala truth is exposed and made public.”