ConCourt to hear EFF’s Phala Phala panel report application

The Constitutional Court is expected to hear the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) application against the Speaker of the National Assembly over the Section 89 panel report regarding the Phala Phala matter.

In 2022, the National Assembly rejected a motion to refer the report to an impeachment committee.

The report, compiled by an independent panel led by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo investigated allegations against President Cyril Ramaphosa after a large sum in foreign currency was stolen from his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

The report found that there was a prima facie case for which the President had to answer.

The video below reports more on the story:

EFF leader Julius Malema says, “Phala Phala will never die. It will never die. Even if it dies in the Constitutional Court, it shall be revived in Parliament.”

In papers, the party argues among others that the National Assembly acted irrationally by blocking the further investigation of a prima facie case against the President despite the objective findings of the Independent Panel and failed to properly consider the content of the report by effectively setting aside the panel’s conclusions without establishing a factual or legal basis upon which to do so.

The party argues that Ramaphosa’s political home used its numerical muscle to shield him from accountability, and therefore, usurped the national legislature’s ability to exercise a Constitutional mandate in holding the number one citizen accountable.

Parliament votes against adopting Section 89 Panel Report:

Meanwhile, Malema says the African National Congress (ANC) and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party will not be allowed to join this morning’s march to the Constitutional Court.

This comes as the EFF is scheduled to hold a picket outside the court today.

The march will begin at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg at 8am.

Malema says, “We are marching to the Constitutional Court with everyone except MKP. The MKP won’t be part of our march. If they want to march, they must go and organise their own. But ATM and even ANC can’t join us. It’s our march. And any other person that has been opposed to Phala Phala can join the EFF march, starting from Mary Fitzgerald Square.”