The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has approached the Constitutional Court seeking urgent relief to overturn a Western Cape High Court judgment that halted Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, arguing that the ruling unlawfully interferes with Parliament’s constitutional responsibilities.
This comes after the Western Cape High Court interdicted the Section 89 Impeachment Committee from proceeding with public hearings pending the outcome of Ramaphosa’s review application against the Independent Panel report.
Ramaphosa is challenging the findings of the panel, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, which found that he may have a case to answer over the theft of foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party confirmed that it had lodged an urgent application with the country’s apex court challenging the High Court’s decision, which granted Ramaphosa interim relief and suspended the work of the Section 89 Independent Panel Committee.
The EFF said it had entered the proceedings as a respondent, alongside the African Transformation Movement (ATM), whose leader Vuyo Zungula initiated the impeachment process. According to the party, the application is based on the principle that the High Court’s order has effectively prevented Parliament from carrying out its constitutional duty to hold the President accountable.
The party argued that the urgency of the matter stems from the fact that the High Court’s decision has already brought the Section 89 impeachment process to a standstill. It contended that the delay has a direct bearing on Parliament’s constitutional obligation to investigate whether the President committed serious violations of the Constitution or the law, engaged in serious misconduct, or is unable to perform the functions of office.
According to the EFF, the central issue before the Constitutional Court is whether the judiciary has the authority to suspend an ongoing parliamentary accountability process before it has reached its conclusion. The party maintained that the majority judgment of the High Court undermines the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers by preventing Parliament from exercising powers expressly assigned to it by the Constitution.
The EFF argued that Section 89 of the Constitution entrusts Parliament with the exclusive authority to establish whether circumstances exist that may justify the removal of a President from office. It said the courts should not intervene in that process before Parliament has completed its constitutional mandate.
The party further submitted that the Section 89 Impeachment Committee serves as an investigative body rather than a decision-making body. It argued that the committee does not itself determine whether President Ramaphosa should be removed from office but instead investigates the allegations and decides whether additional parliamentary action is required.
The EFF also criticised Ramaphosa’s decision to approach the courts, saying the President cannot rely on litigation to suspend a constitutional accountability mechanism designed to scrutinise his own conduct.
It further claimed that allowing the suspension of parliamentary inquiries through court proceedings weakens Parliament’s oversight powers and creates a precedent that could enable future office-bearers to avoid accountability by delaying constitutional processes through prolonged litigation.
As part of its application, the EFF has asked the Constitutional Court to hear the matter urgently, overturn the Western Cape High Court’s order granting interim relief to the President, dismiss the application that resulted in the suspension of the impeachment process, and allow Parliament’s Section 89 proceedings to continue.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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