President Cyril Ramaphosa's application to halt Parliament's Section 89 impeachment process over the Phala Phala farm scandal is facing opposition from the MK Party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM), which argue that the courts should not intervene in Parliament's constitutional duty to investigate the matter.
The Western Cape High Court heard the President's urgent application this week. Ramaphosa wants the court to stop the impeachment committee from carrying out its work while he challenges the independent panel report that led to its establishment.
The committee was established after the Constitutional Court ruled in May that Parliament had acted unlawfully by failing to properly address the panel's findings. The court ordered the National Assembly to establish a Section 89 committee to investigate whether there are grounds to impeach the President.
Opposition parties told the court that the Constitutional Court had already settled the issue and that Parliament should now be allowed to complete the process without further delays.
Speaking outside court, MK Party deputy president Dr John Hlophe said the President's application was an attempt to stop a process already ordered by the country's highest court.
“We submit Ramaphosa is wasting time. You cannot interdict an inquiry which has already been directed by the apex court,” Hlophe said.
He argued that no other court has the authority to interfere with a Constitutional Court order. Hlophe also criticised National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza for filing a notice to abide by the President's application instead of opposing it.
The MK Party has since filed a Rule 167 motion asking that the Speaker appear before the impeachment committee to explain her actions.
“The duty of Parliament is to ensure that the executive accounts to Parliament,” Hlophe said, accusing the ANC of allowing the executive to avoid accountability.
The EFF also opposed the application, arguing that the matter is neither urgent nor legally justified. EFF Treasurer General Omphile Maotwe said the President was trying to delay a process that had already been decided by the Constitutional Court.
“So, it's a delaying tactic. He knows that there's no merit. He's trying to buy time,” Maotwe said.
She said the impeachment committee should continue with its investigation, hear witnesses and examine the evidence contained in the panel report.
“The panel report is a report of Parliament and it has now led to the impeachment committee being established; he can't stop the process,” she said.
ATM parliamentary leader Vuyo Zungula also argued that the President's application undermines Parliament's constitutional responsibility to hold the executive accountable.
According to Zungula, the impeachment committee has been established to investigate whether there is a case for impeachment, not to determine the President's guilt.
He said Ramaphosa should be allowed to answer the allegations before the committee, rather than trying to stop the process in the courts.
“You can't then have the courts wanting to stop Parliament from doing what Parliament is supposed to do because, constitutionally speaking, Parliament is mandated to hold the President accountable,” Zungula said.
Zungula also warned that a ruling in the President's favour could create a precedent allowing future public officials to challenge investigations before they are completed.
Although the MK Party, EFF and ATM differ politically, they all argued that the impeachment committee should be allowed to complete its work before the courts consider the President's broader challenge to the independent panel report.
The High Court's ruling will determine whether that process continues uninterrupted.