Parliament Acted Irrationally and Unconstitutionally

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the judgment of the Constitutional Court affirming that Parliament acted irrationally and unconstitutionally in shielding President Cyril Ramaphosa from accountability in the Phala Phala matter.

In the reading of the three judgments presented, Chief Justice Mandisa Maya affirmed the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court over this matter, declaring that the actions of Parliament in the Section 89 process are subject to constitutional review and must comply with the supreme law of the Republic.

Secondly, central to the case before the Constitutional Court was Rule 129 of the National Assembly Rules, which was adopted in 2018 and applied for the first time in the Phala Phala process. Rule 129 granted the National Assembly discretion to decide whether or not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry after receiving the findings of a Section 89 Independent Panel.

The EFF correctly argued before the Constitutional Court that this discretion was unconstitutional because it allowed Parliament to arbitrarily override the findings of an independent panel and frustrate the constitutional purpose of the impeachment process. The Constitutional Court has now declared Rule 129 unconstitutional and invalid. Consequently, the National Assembly vote of December 2022, which relied on this unconstitutional rule to terminate the impeachment process against Cyril Ramaphosa, has been rendered null and void.

Furthermore, the Constitutional Court has referred the Section 89 independent Phala Phala report back to Parliament’s impeachment committee for proper constitutional consideration in accordance with Section 89 of the Constitution. This will be done, however, with a revised version of Rule 129 provided by the Court.

This judgment is a decisive victory for constitutional accountability and confirms what the EFF has maintained from the onset of this scandal: that the institutions of the state, including Parliament, were manipulated to protect Cyril Ramaphosa from scrutiny and accountability for conduct that would have destroyed the political career of any ordinary citizen.

The Phala Phala scandal first emerged publicly in 2022 after revelations that more than US$580 000 was stolen from President Ramaphosa’s private game farm in Limpopo. The scandal immediately raised serious questions about the source and legality of the foreign currency, the concealment of the crime, the abuse of state security structures, possible money laundering, tax evasion, kidnapping, bribery, and unlawful cross-border operations.

In terms of Section 89 of the Constitution, Parliament subsequently established an Independent Panel chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo to determine whether there was prima facie evidence that the President had committed serious violations of the Constitution or the law. The Section 89 Panel made damning findings against Cyril Ramaphosa and concluded that there was prima facie evidence that the President may have committed:

1. A serious violation of Section 96(2)(a) of the Constitution; 2. A serious violation of Section 34(1) of PRECCA; 3. Serious misconduct in violation of Section 96(2)(b) of the Constitution; and 4. Serious misconduct arising from exposing himself to a conflict between his official duties and private business interests.

Instead of allowing this constitutional process to unfold, the ANC used its parliamentary majority in December 2022 to collapse the Section 89 process and shield Ramaphosa from accountability. It is precisely this irrational and unconstitutional conduct by Parliament that the EFF challenged before the Constitutional Court.

The EFF argued that Parliament ignored the findings of its own independent panel and failed in its duty to hold the President accountable as required by the Constitution. The EFF’s case before the Constitutional Court was therefore not merely about Cyril Ramaphosa as an individual, but about defending the integrity of Parliament and protecting South Africa’s constitutional democracy from becoming subordinate to ANC factional interests.

We, therefore, declare this a significant victory for us, the people of South Africa and our democracy. We now call for the immediate implementation of the Constitutional Court judgment and the reinstatement of all constitutional accountability processes against President Cyril Ramaphosa. Furthermore, all institutions that participated in the whitewashing and political protection of Cyril Ramaphosa in the Phala Phala scandal have now been exposed and thoroughly shamed by this judgment of the Constitutional Court. Institutions such as the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the South African Reserve Bank, and the Office of the Public Protector, all of which sought to prematurely clear Ramaphosa despite overwhelming evidence of constitutional violations, now stand exposed as participants in a broader political scheme to shield the President from accountability.

The EFF promised the people of South Africa from the very beginning that Phala Phala will never die. Today’s judgment confirms that truth. Despite all attempts by the ANC, Parliament, and captured state institutions to bury this scandal, constitutional accountability has prevailed. The EFF will continue to fight relentlessly until Cyril Ramaphosa is held fully accountable before Parliament, before the law, and before the people of South Africa.

The EFF has been involved in campaigns to support small-scale farmers and cooperatives.

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