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South Africa’s Phala Phala committee halts evidence leader hunt as court cases loom.
South Africa's parliamentary committee weighing impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over Phala Phala has voted 19-9 to oppose two court applications against it, and to freeze the appointment of a new evidence leader until the cases are done.
"We are going to oppose the two applications," said committee chairperson Makashule Gana, who told members there was an emerging consensus not to appoint anyone at Wednesday's meeting.
The dispute is over who leads the evidence. Advocate Griffiths Thandazani Madonsela SC was recommended on 5 August, but the committee rescinded that on 2 September by 18 votes to 9 after Ramaphosa objected on conflict-of-interest grounds.
The Economic Freedom Fighters filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court, and the African Legal Professionals Association brought a separate challenge. Both are provisionally set down for Friday.
Senior parliamentary legal adviser Sueanne Isaac told members there was no legal obstacle to appointing an evidence leader, and summarised the EFF case as arguing the committee had acted irrationally.
EFF MP Andile Mngxitama accused the committee of acting as an extension of the presidency, saying a decision could not simply be unmade because the head of the executive objected.
The underlying matter is the theft of more than half a million US dollars from Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020. The Ngcobo panel found in 2022 that the president had a case to answer.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by IOL.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
South Africa’s parliamentary committee weighing impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over Phala Phala has voted 19-9 to oppose two court applications against it, and to freeze the appointment of a new evidence leader until the cases are done.
“We are going to oppose the two applications,” said committee chairperson Makashule Gana, who told members there was an emerging consensus not to appoint anyone at Wednesday’s meeting.
The dispute is over who leads the evidence. Advocate Griffiths Thandazani Madonsela SC was recommended on 5 August, but the committee rescinded that on 2 September by 18 votes to 9 after Ramaphosa objected on conflict-of-interest grounds.
The Economic Freedom Fighters filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court, and the African Legal Professionals Association brought a separate challenge. Both are provisionally set down for Friday.
Senior parliamentary legal adviser Sueanne Isaac told members there was no legal obstacle to appointing an evidence leader, and summarised the EFF case as arguing the committee had acted irrationally.
EFF MP Andile Mngxitama accused the committee of acting as an extension of the presidency, saying a decision could not simply be unmade because the head of the executive objected.
The underlying matter is the theft of more than half a million US dollars from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020. The Ngcobo panel found in 2022 that the president had a case to answer.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
