A legal analyst says the dismissal of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s direct access application by the Constitutional Court in the Section 89 Independent Panel report could potentially be used as ammunition by opposition parties to try and oust the President.
The independent probe led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found that Ramaphosa may have a prima facie case to answer over the theft of a large sum of money in US dollars at his Phala Phala farm in 2020.
The Constitutional Court order did not delve into the merits of the President’s case.
Legal Analyst Mpumelelo Zikalala says, “From a technical basis, the opposition parties in Parliament then have a leg to stand on… Most of which were relying on this particular matter which has been thrown out by the court on the basis of a technicality. Whether the President is guilty or not, it simply says allow a process in which the President would then be able to provide further evidence to what he was stating.”
Zikalala says, “We are in this position because it is the president himself that said yes there was money which was found on my premises. I was engaged in other activities of which the Constitution is very clear that they cannot be done by the president.”
The audio below is reporting more on the Constitutional Court ruling:
