This Review Application Is Fundamentally Opportunistic and Dishonest

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s official decision to proceed with a judicial review application against the Section 89 Independent Panel Report chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo. His decision affirms precisely what the EFF has consistently maintained that Cyril Ramaphosa will exhaust every political and legal mechanism available to evade accountability and avoid facing an impeachment inquiry before Parliament.

We reiterate that this review application is fundamentally opportunistic, dishonest, and indicative of a President who has no genuine commitment to transparency, accountability, or constitutional governance. South Africans must not forget that Ramaphosa initially launched a review application against the Section 89 Panel Report in December 2022 after the panel found prima facie evidence that he may have violated the Constitution and his oath of office. However, once the ANC used its parliamentary majority to irrationally and unconstitutionally suppress the report and block the impeachment process, Ramaphosa quietly withdrew that review application because he believed the matter had been politically buried forever.

Now, nearly four years later, after the Constitutional Court declared the ANC-led parliamentary process unlawful and ordered that the report be properly referred for an impeachment inquiry, Ramaphosa suddenly seeks to revive legal challenges against the very same report he previously abandoned. This conduct exposes a President who does not act on constitutional principle, but on political convenience and self- preservation.

The EFF will therefore join the review application in opposition to President Ramaphosa and will demand that the matter be treated with urgency on the court roll, precisely because it concerns a matter of profound national importance. The Constitutional Court itself has already recognised the seriousness and constitutional significance of this matter, and it cannot now be subjected to endless legal delays orchestrated by a compromised President seeking political survival.

Furthermore, the EFF will pursue legal advice on whether Ramaphosa’s review application has any bearing whatsoever on the binding Constitutional Court order directing Parliament to refer the Section 89 Panel Report to an impeachment committee. It is our considered view that the review application does not in any way impede or halt the impeachment process, and that it must proceed uninterrupted.

We therefore expect the Speaker to continue with the work of the establishment of the impeachment committee, and provide detailed timelines on when the work of the committee will begin.

The EFF further expects the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thoko Didiza to oppose the review application by the President of the Republic of South Africa, as the independent panel was established by her office, and she is the custodian of the Section 89 Independent Panel Report. The review application by the President of the Republic of South Africa is a review of her legislative authority to execute accountability over the executive, and therefore, she must defend that mandate when it is taken under judicial review.

It cannot be permissible for a President to indefinitely frustrate constitutional accountability processes merely by initiating litigation whenever accountability becomes imminent.

Our commitment remains that Cyril Ramaphosa must be held accountable in accordance with the Constitution and the rule of law. If Cyril Ramaphosa had any conscience, political integrity, or respect for the people of South Africa and the constitutional order he swore to uphold, he would resign and allow the country to move forward.

The EFF’s rhetoric has sparked debates about race relations in South Africa.

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