Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa filed a notice of motion at the Constitutional Court against the Section 89 panel, while the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) was still locked in a crucial marathon meeting about the panel’s report on Monday.
This as opposition parties upped the ante in their bid to impeach Ramaphosa through the parliamentary processes.
The NEC reached consensus that Ramaphosa stays on as president, with treasurer-general Paul Mashatile announcing that the NEC had agreed that ANC MPs vote against the adoption of the Section 89’s Phala Phala report.
Briefing the media at Nasrec in Joburg, Mashatile announced that the party would vote against the adoption of Section 89 panel report while Ramaphosa reviews it in court.
Mashatile said Ramaphosa attended the special NEC meeting and delivered remarks, after which he was allowed to recuse himself earlier on Monday.
He said NEC members engaged fully and frankly before coming to a conclusion.
“The NEC resolved that the NEC will vote against the adoption of the report of Section 89 panel given the fact that the report has now been taken on review by the President.
“So we thought we are going to leave it there for now.
“Should Parliament proceed on Tuesday, the ANC will not support that,” Mashatile said.
The report rocked Ramaphosa’s presidency, jolting him to the brink of resignation after the panel found that he may have a case to answer before a Parliamentary impeachment committee on allegations made by former spy boss Arthur Fraser in the aftermath of the theft of R10 million worth of foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm, Limpopo, in 2020.
Ramaphosa’s Concourt application, served at 4pm, included the panel’s trio of former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, retired High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa and advocate Mahlape Sello; National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula; and African Transformation Movement (ATM) MP Vuyolwethu Zungula as respondents.
In his application, Ramaphosa said he would demonstrate that the panel “strayed beyond the four charges” and “was unfair to me because it raised matters” to which he wasn’t given a right of reply.
Panel spokesperson Reverend Mbuyiselo Stemela confirmed to the Cape Argus that Ngcobo was served with the papers but declined to comment further on the application, while Zungula said the papers were served at 4pm.
Ramaphosa asked the apex court to declare that only it may decide his application, that he’s granted leave to bring the application before it, the Section 89’s Phala Phala report be declared unlawful and set aside, and that any actions taken by Parliament in relation to the report are “unlawful”.
Before Ramaphosa filed the application, EFF president Julius Malema pre-empted it as “desperate and as further disrespect of South African people and the Constitution”.
Earlier on Monday, Mapisa-Nqakula shot down the ATM’s request to have the Section 89 independent panel’s report voting procedure carried out in secret ballots in Parliament.
ATM president Vuyo Zungula had written to Mapisa-Nqakula last week, requesting that she consider allowing MPs to vote secretly.
The DA roundly rejected Mapisa-Nqakula’s decision, while Malema called on Ramaphosa’s critics, including the ANC’s Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Lindiwe Sisulu and Supra Mahumapelo, to walk the talk.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said a secret vote opened Parliament to the risk of possible corruption.
Mothapo said a transparent process fortifies trust in the Assembly.
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said Mapisa-Nqakula's decision comes despite a precedent the Speaker set when she acceded to a similar request in March.
Gwarube translated this to mean Mapisa-Nqakula “is on over-drive”, “keen to protect” Ramaphosa and “less interested in accountability and the critical role Parliament must play”.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said it would be unfair to the voters for their MPs to vote with opposition parties.
In a press briefing about the Phala Phala fallout and calls for Ramaphosa to stay or go, Mabe said: “We can assure you that the ANC is capable of managing this.”
Ramaphosa’s 59-page application also asked that:
• The respondents pay costs.
• The Concourt deals with the matter without evidence.
Striking a defiant note in an earlier-than-usual newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa chose to highlight the gains of his fight against corruption, highlighting the National Prosecuting Authority’s recent announcement that it settled with an international company implicated in corruption at Eskom.