EFF Leader Julius Malema celebrated outside the ConCourt on Friday following a victory in the ongoing Phala Phala saga involving President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image: EFF X
EFF Leader Julius Malema celebrated outside the ConCourt on Friday following a victory in the ongoing Phala Phala saga involving President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Constitutional Court found that the National Assembly acted unlawfully when it voted in December 2022 to reject the Section 89 independent panel report into allegations surrounding the President.
The court said Parliament’s decision to dismiss the report was irrational and inconsistent with the Constitution.
Malema told his supporters that Phala Phala will never die.
He told the ANC to choose South Africa or Ramaphosa.
"Facing impeachment is the same as standing in a box of law. There is prima facie. Let's see if the step aside only applies to certain individuals and not to Ramaphosa."
The court ordered the National Assembly to properly process the Section 89 panel findings, reopening the possibility of a full impeachment inquiry.
The ruling came 521 days after arguments were heard, a delay that had itself drawn political scrutiny.
The case was brought by the EFF and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) in November 2024, challenging Parliament’s rejection of the panel’s findings.At the centre of the dispute was Rule 129 of the National Assembly’s impeachment procedures.
The EFF argued that it was unconstitutional because it gave Parliament too much discretion to override an independent panel’s findings and block impeachment proceedings. The court agreed, finding the rule and Parliament’s reliance on it unconstitutional.
Parliament had previously voted 214 to 148 to reject the panel’s report.
Outside the court, EFF supporters celebrated the ruling, singing.
They were waving placards calling for action against Ramaphosa, including messages such as “Arrest Cyril Ramaphosa Now” and references to the Phala Phala farm.ATM parliamentary leader Vuyo Zungula said Parliament had failed in its oversight role by refusing to allow a full impeachment inquiry.
The court’s ruling, he said, validated the need for further scrutiny.
The matter will now return to Parliament, which must reconsider the panel’s report and decide whether to proceed with a full impeachment inquiry.
The ruling brings renewed attention to events dating back to February 2020, when thieves broke into Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo and stole a reported $580,000 in foreign currency allegedly hidden at the property.
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