Johannesburg - Parliament has advised the EFF that it has already concluded the Section 89 processes on the Phala Phala matter and its decision against its adoption stands.
In a statement issued earlier on Thursday, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, said that the rules of the National Assembly do not permit the establishment of a Section 89 inquiry against the president without a prescribed process.
In its request, dated March 1, after the Constitutional Court released its order on President Cyril Ramaphosa's application to review and set aside the Section 89 Independent Panel’s report, the EFF wanted the matter included in the agenda of Thursday’s National Assembly Programming Committee (NAPC) so the party can propose that the establishment of a Section 89 impeachment committee be scheduled for the assembly sitting this afternoon.
In the letter, the EFF asked the Speaker to also prepare a motion for the establishment of an impeachment committee for the Section 89 enquiry, to serve before the NAPC for discussion.
In her reply, the Speaker said the order of the Constitutional Court of March 1, that the president had not made out a case for exclusive jurisdiction or direct access to the Court, “in no way invalidates the decision of the Assembly taken on December 13, 2022 when the matter was concluded”.
Mapisa-Nqakula said that last year, the National Assembly considered the report of the panel on the Phala Phala matter and decided against its adoption.
“The Concourt order made no findings in relation to the merits of the panel report, or the validity of the decision of the Assembly,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court denied Ramaphosa direct access to challenge the findings of retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo who found that he had a case to answer over how he handled the break-in at his game farm.
The Ngcobo report has not only cast a shadow over Ramaphosa’s presidency, but also presents a potential threat to his continued leadership. DA leader John Steenhuisen said the dismissal of Ramaphosa’s application by the court confirmed that the details of the report should be investigated by the National Assembly in the form of an ad hoc committee. The EFF is pushing for Ramaphosa to resign.
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