ConCourt sets aside Phala Phala parliamentary vote

The Constitutional Court has ruled that Parliament’s vote on the Phala Phala report, which effectively exonerated President Cyril Ramaphosa, was unconstitutional and invalid.

The court further struck down Rule 129, saying it unlawfully allowed Parliament to prevent an impeachment inquiry from proceeding.

Section 89 report, which was tabled before Parliament in December 2022, found Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office and the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. However, the report was not adopted by Parliament.

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This is after the African National Congress [ANC] used its majority in the house to vote against it.

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“It is declared that the vote of the National Assembly taken on 13 December 2022, declining to refer the report to the independent panel to an impeachment committee as envisaged in the NA [National Assembly] rules, is inconsistent with the Constitution, invalid, and it is set aside,” said Chief Justice Mandisa Maya while handing down the ruling.

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“The report of the independent panel is referred to the impeachment committee established in terms of the NA rules.”

The case was brought by the EFF and the African Transformation Movement [ATM], arguing that Parliament failed to hold the president accountable after a Section 89 panel found that he may have breached his oath of office.