South Africa: Ramaphosa Takes Phala Phala Report to Court, Threatens to Interdict Impeachment Process

Lead

President Cyril Ramaphosa has filed an application in the Western Cape High Court to review and set aside the Section 89 independent panel report that investigated his conduct in the Phala Phala matter. In his court papers, he also warned the National Assembly against proceeding with the impeachment process, saying he would be "compelled" to seek an interdict should it go ahead.

Coverage Comparison

Two reports from AllAfrica cover the development. One, by Anita Dangazele, focuses on Ramaphosa's new High Court application filed on Tuesday, in which he argues that the panel never checked whether a Namibian police report and a suspect recording were lawfully obtained before being used as evidence. The other report details Ramaphosa's warning to the National Assembly and his application, dated Monday, 25 May, to review and set aside the report and to invalidate any actions taken pursuant to it.

Key Claims

Ramaphosa's application is the latest legal challenge to the report, which was compiled in 2022 by a panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, along with retired judge Thokozile Masipa and advocate Mahlape Sello. The panel investigated four charges against Ramaphosa linked to the theft of US$580,000 (around R9-million at the time) from his Phala Phala game farm in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, in February 2020.

The case was blown open by former spy boss Arthur Fraser, who laid criminal charges at the Rosebank police station in 2022 and submitted a confidential Namibian police report and an audio recording of a suspect interview to the panel. Ramaphosa argues that neither should have been accepted without scrutiny. "The crucial question is whether the report lawfully landed in Fraser's hands," he said in his court papers. "The panel had a duty to ensure that any evidence before it is lawfully obtained or exclude it."

The panel found that there was enough before it to suggest Ramaphosa may have committed serious violations of the Constitution. The ANC voted the report down in Parliament the following month.

In his affidavit, Ramaphosa said, "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. I trust that the National Assembly will not do so." He also said he accepted that the matter is urgent and that it is in the public interest that it be determined without delay, proposing expedited timeframes to the respondents.

This is not Ramaphosa's first attempt to have the report set aside. He went to the Constitutional Court in 2022 with a similar argument and lost. Parliament is now preparing to establish next steps.