Ramaphosa slams DA’s ‘politically motivated’ Lady R court action seeking to ‘undermine’ national interest

President Cyril Ramaphosa is confident he acted within the law when he appointed retired Gauteng deputy judge president Phineas Mojapelo to head the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the docking of the Russian Lady R cargo ship in December.  

Addressing the media on Wednesday, presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa's office had noted the DA's intention to challenge Mojapelo's appointment.  

“ Ramaphosa acted within the law in doing so and we are quite confident this appointment will withstand scrutiny,” he said.  

On Tuesday TimesLIVE Premium reported the DA approached the court over the controversy, saying it was unconstitutional for Ramaphosa to appoint a judge to investigate the Lady R matter.  

“It is incompatible with the judicial office for a judge to be appointed to an unregulated and secret investigation panel which reports confidentially only to the executive,” the DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach said in court papers filed earlier this month in the Pretoria high court. 

Magwenya said Ramaphosa decided to appoint the independent panel after carefully considering “the delicate balance needed between the public's right to information and the state's need to secure information, the disclosure of which mayjeopardise our national security and/or international relations.

He said: “Hence the president decided to appoint an independent panel rather than a commission of inquiry as provided for in terms of the Constitution. The president carefully considered his decision to appoint a retired judge to head the panel.

 “ In its politically motivated court action, the DA wants to undermine the country's national interest, failing to appreciate the importance of resolving this matter in a manner that is credible and expeditious. 

“The DA is failing to appreciate the damage this issue has caused to our economy and potentially to very important diplomatic relations which are repaired as a result of the level of credibility that is attached to the panel and its work, the outcome of the investigation and the intensive amount of diplomatic work that has been conducted to date and is still being managed.” 

Ramaphosa announced the investigation after the shock press briefing on May 11 by US ambassador Ruben Brigety, who said he was confident weapons were loaded onto the ship. He accused South Africa of deviating from its non-aligned position in the Russia-Ukraine war, straining diplomatic relations between South Africa and the US. 

In August, the panel found no evidence that weapons had been loaded onto the ship. The full report has remained confidential with only an executive summary publicly released in September.  

The investigation preceding its report was also conducted confidentially, and its terms of reference were not made public. It was not a commission of inquiry governed by the Commissions Act, and the panel did not have the power to subpoena evidence or witnesses. 

TimesLIVE