Phala Phala: EFF accuses ConCourt of shielding Ramaphosa as it takes to the streets

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has accused the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) of shielding President Cyril Ramaphosa as it takes to the streets, calling for the release of the judgment on the Phala Phala matter.

In 2024, the red berets launched a court application at the apex court, challenging Parliament’s decision to vote against the Section 89 panel report.

The panel’s report, released in 2023, made damning ethical findings about Ramaphosa’s conduct regarding the break-in at his Phala Phala game farm.

However, at the time, the African National Congress (ANC) used its majority in Parliament to vote against adopting the report, which would have seen the National Assembly begin impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa.

The EFF argued before the ConCourt in 2024 that it was unconstitutional for Parliament to reject the report, as doing so goes against the House’s constitutional mandate to hold the executive accountable.

“It was irrational and goes against the Constitution’s mandated obligation for Parliament to hold the executive accountable. The norms and standards of South Africa dictate that judgments must be released within three months, and it has now been twelve months and two days since the ConCourt received our application.

“We want to register to them that they are failing in their constitutional duty as the final arbiters of disputes in our society. We want the judgment to be released now. It’s either illiteracy, incompetence, or deliberate political intervention that is resulting in Ramaphosa being shielded by the ConCourt, and we want an explanation as to why this judgment has not been released,” said the EFF's national spokesperson, Sinawo Thambo.