President Cyril Ramaphosa says he will urgently seek a review of the Section 89 independent panel report following last week’s Constitutional Court ruling that Parliament acted unlawfully when it rejected the report in 2022 over the Phala Phala scandal.
The independent panel found that Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office in relation to the theft of foreign currency from his Limpopo farm. However, the President maintains that the report is flawed and insists that the Constitutional Court made no findings on whether he committed misconduct or whether impeachment was justified.
The ruling has renewed debate around the accountability mechanisms available to Parliament, including the distinction between impeachment proceedings and motions of no confidence.
Political analyst and University of the Free State lecturer Sanet Solomon explained that motions of no confidence are generally political processes, while impeachment carries far more serious legal consequences.
“When you have votes of no confidence, it tends to be more political in nature,” Solomon said. “But with impeachments, they generally tend to involve more severe and serious cases.”
She noted that impeachment proceedings usually involve allegations of serious constitutional violations or misconduct committed while in office. Solomon added that a president who is impeached can lose certain benefits and may also face legal accountability.
“There’s also a legal element to it, where you’ll obviously have to be held accountable for whatever it is that you did,” she explained.
Solomon further said impeachment processes are more formal and require direct accountability from the president. “You can’t necessarily send someone else to account for that, and you have to answer all the questions put to you under oath,” she said.
She believes Ramaphosa’s decision to take the matter on review may also be aimed at limiting public discussion while legal proceedings are underway.
Listen to the full interview below:
VOC News
Photo: The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa [screenshot]
