President Cyril Ramaphosa has secured an interim court order preventing Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment committee from proceeding with public hearings into the Phala Phala matter until the Western Cape High Court has ruled on his application to review the independent panel’s report.
Judge Andre Le Grange delivered the majority judgment in the Western Cape High Court on Friday, granting Ramaphosa an interim interdict that temporarily halts the committee’s work pending the determination of his review application.
Reading the order, Le Grange said:
“Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review, the first and second respondents are interdicted from proceeding with the public impeachment hearings in terms of Rule 129M of the National Assembly Rules.”
The court further ordered that the costs of the urgent application would stand over for determination by the court hearing the review application.
The ruling follows an urgent application argued before a full bench of the Western Cape High Court last week, where Ramaphosa sought to stop the impeachment inquiry while his challenge to the independent Section 89 panel report is still before the courts.
Ramaphosa argued that allowing the parliamentary process to proceed before the review application is determined would expose him to irreparable reputational harm and undermine the fairness of the judicial process.
Parliament opposed the application, arguing that the committee was still engaged in preparatory work and should be allowed to continue unless ordered otherwise by the court.
Before Friday’s ruling, Section 89 committee chairperson Makashule Gana had maintained that the committee would proceed with its work until a court directed it to stop.
The committee had already begun laying the groundwork for the inquiry, including postponing the appointment of an evidence leader after extending nominations for the position. Members had been expected to meet again next week to finalise that appointment.
Friday’s order now temporarily halts the committee’s public impeachment proceedings until the High Court determines Ramaphosa’s review application, which challenges the findings of the independent Section 89 panel that concluded there may be sufficient grounds for Parliament to consider an impeachment inquiry into the Phala Phala farm burglary.