Staff Reporter
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza will not oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa’s urgent court bid to stop Parliament’s Phala Phala impeachment inquiry from proceeding.
Didiza, who has been cited as the first respondent in the case, filed a notice indicating that she would abide by the Western Cape High Court’s ruling.
Ramaphosa is seeking an interdict against the National Assembly’s Section 89 impeachment committee while he pursues a review of the independent panel report, which the Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to refer to the committee.
The matter is set down for hearing on 15 and 16 July. Ramaphosa launched the urgent application on 12 June.
The impeachment committee has resolved to oppose the president’s application, saying it remains under a constitutional obligation to continue with the process unless a court orders otherwise. It had also asked Didiza to join the opposition to Ramaphosa’s court bid.
The committee is due to meet on 24 June to consider its draft terms of reference and the appointment of evidence leaders.
The impeachment process was revived after the Constitutional Court ruled on 8 May that the National Assembly’s 2022 decision not to refer the Phala Phala report to an impeachment committee was invalid.
The court ordered that the independent panel report be referred to the impeachment committee for consideration under the National Assembly rules.
The Phala Phala matter relates to the theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s private farm in Limpopo in February 2020. Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing and has previously said the money came from the sale of buffalo on the farm.
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