By: Saneliso Mlambo
President Cyril Ramaphosa has succeeded in his urgent application to temporarily stop Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment inquiry linked to the Phala Phala matter. The Western Cape High Court granted an interim interdict on Friday, preventing the parliamentary committee from proceeding with public impeachment hearings until the court has ruled on Ramaphosa’s separate review application challenging the independent Section 89 panel report.
The ruling follows Ramaphosa’s application to halt the inquiry, arguing that allowing the process to continue before the review is decided could cause irreparable prejudice if the panel report is later found to be unlawful. Parliament’s impeachment committee and several political parties opposed the application, arguing that the committee should be allowed to continue carrying out its constitutional mandate.
Judge André le Grange said the full bench delivered a majority judgment. One judge would have dismissed the application, while the majority found that Ramaphosa had established sufficient grounds for an interim interdict of limited duration. As a result, Parliament’s Section 89 committee is barred from holding public impeachment proceedings until the review application has been determined.
The court also ordered that the costs of the urgent application will be decided by the court hearing the review. The review of the independent Section 89 panel report is expected to be heard later this year. Until then, the parliamentary impeachment process remains on hold.