President Cyril Ramaphosa maintains that the Section 89 independent panel’s report was flawed. However, he will no longer file a legal challenge to the report that found he may have a case to answer regarding the Phala Phala saga.
Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says the decision comes after the National Assembly voted not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.
The saga relates to a robbery at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in December 2020.
Ramaphosa took the report on review in the Constitutional Court which however found that there was no urgency in reviewing it and that it had no exclusive jurisdiction to do so.
Addressing the media at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Monday, Magwenya says, “On the 13th of December 2022, the National Assembly decided to reject the motion to refer the panel report to an impeachment committee, while that decision remains valid, the Section 89 panel report carries no weight in law. The president has thus been advised not to institute proceedings before the high court for the review and setting aside of the report at this stage. President Ramaphosa reserves the right to bring such proceedings in due course should the circumstances change.”
VIDEO: Magwenya’s media briefing:
