President Cyril Ramaphosa has approached the Western Cape High Court to review the Phala Phala report.
Image: SITHUNYELWE
President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken legal action against the Phala Phala independent panel report, claiming it contains flawed conclusions that could lead to impeachment proceedings.
He has gone to the Western Cape High Court to challenge the report that found he may have violated the Constitution and abused his position.
Ramaphosa wants the report scrapped — especially the section recommending that Parliament consider impeachment proceedings against him.
The report, compiled in 2022 by an independent panel chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, concluded there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct linked to the Phala Phala farm scandal.
But Ramaphosa said the panel got it wrong.
In court papers, the president argued the panel relied on hearsay, misunderstood its powers and used questionable evidence to reach damaging conclusions.
“Save for the limited evidence I introduced in my response, there was no evidence before the panel,” Ramaphosa said.
He also questioned how confidential Namibian police documents and an audio recording ended up before the panel, warning the information may have been obtained unlawfully.
The legal battle comes after the Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament acted unlawfully when MPs voted against adopting the panel’s findings.
Following that judgment, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza appointed a 31-member impeachment committee to reconsider the matter.