The National Assembly’s impeachment committee has been advised that it is constitutionally obliged to proceed with its inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa and should oppose his urgent court application seeking to halt the process.In a legal opinion prepared for the committee, which includes nine ANC leaders, it is argued that the impeachment process under section 89 of the constitution is not a discretionary power that parliament may exercise at will, but a constitutional obligation that must be carried out diligently and without delay.The opinion states that the committee was established to conduct the preliminary inquiry required by the constitution, and that it is bound by a Constitutional Court order referring the Ngcobo panel report to it for consideration.The legal advice further argues that opposing Ramaphosa’s interdict application would not compromise the committee’s impartiality, provided it limits its opposition to defending its constitutional mandate and does not express a view on whether the president committed an impeachable offence.“The committee is defending its right and obligation to conduct the impeachment inquiry. It is not defending the panel report, nor asserting that the president has committed any impeachable offence,” the opinion states.The committee, which is meeting today virtually, has yet to decide whether it will oppose Ramaphosa’s court challenge.This is a developing storyTimesLIVE