President Cyril Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a fresh legal bid in the Western Cape High Court to overturn the 2022 independent panel report that found prima facie evidence he may have committed serious misconduct and violated the Constitution in relation to the Phala Phala farm scandal, as parliament moves closer to constituting an impeachment committee following a Constitutional Court ruling earlier this year.
The application, filed by attorneys Harris Nupen Molebatsi Inc, seeks an order reviewing and setting aside the report compiled under Rule 129G of the National Assembly rules by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, retired judge Thokozile Masipa and advocate Mahlape Sello under Rule 129G of the National Assembly rules.
In his founding affidavit, Ramaphosa argued the panel misunderstood both its mandate and the legal threshold required under section 89 of the Constitution.
He quoted the National Assembly rules’ definitions of “serious misconduct” as “unlawful, dishonest or improper behaviour performed by the President in bad faith” and “a serious violation of the Constitution or the law” as conduct “amounting to an intentional or malicious violation of the Constitution or the law performed in bad faith”.
