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President Cyril Ramaphosa has filed court papers seeking to have the independent panel’s report into the Phala Phala scandal reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside.In papers lodged before the Western Cape high court on Tuesday, Ramaphosa argues that the report compiled by the panel chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo is flawed − both factually and legally.He also warns that if parliament proceeds with an impeachment inquiry based on the report before his legal challenge is resolved, he will seek an interdict to halt the process.“It would be intolerable and a travesty if the National Assembly were to proceed with an impeachment process triggered by the panel’s report, at a time when a challenge to the lawfulness and validity of that report is pending,” Ramaphosa states in his founding affidavit.The panel found that Ramaphosa may have committed a serious violation of the constitution, and may have exposed himself to a conflict of interest between his official duties as president and his private business interests through the handling of the theft of foreign currency from his Phala Phala farm.In his affidavit, Ramaphosa further suggests the panel may have relied on evidence obtained unlawfully, including a confidential Namibian police report and an audio recording. He points to former spy boss Arthur Fraser, whose criminal complaint first brought the Phala Phala matter into the public domain.The court challenge follows a Constitutional Court ruling earlier this month that the National Assembly acted unlawfully when it voted against adopting the panel’s report. That judgment cleared the way for parliament to initiate an impeachment process based on the report’s findings. − TimesLIVE
