EDITORIAL | Dear parliament, do it properly this time

The date on which the Constitutional Court delivered its groundbreaking judgment on parliament’s handling of the Phala Phala matter, May 8, is remarkable — it was on the same day 30 years ago that the National Assembly adopted our constitution.

The judgment emphatically reaffirmed the authority of the constitution in holding organs of state such as parliament and the executive to account.

The Constitutional Court on Friday set aside a December 2022 decision of the national legislature, at the behest of ANC MPs, to vote against a report of the section 89 panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo on the Phala Phala saga.

The three-member independent panel had found that there was a prima facie case against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the stash of more than $500,000 in a couch at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, the existence of which was revealed by Arthur Fraser in 2022. Fraser accused Ramaphosa of having tried to cover up the theft of the money two years earlier. Ngcobo’s panel recommended that the matter be referred to an impeachment committee for further probing.

Instead, the committee voted against the panel report, a decision that the Constitutional Court set aside, calling it “inconsistent” and “invalid”. The court also declared the National Assembly’s rule 129 I, which MPs relied on in making their decision, was in breach of the supreme law. It ordered the legislature to amend the rule.

The order to institute an impeachment committee puts parliament back to where it was in 2022.

This will have serious implications for Ramaphosa, and the ANC, should the impeachment committee agree with the panel and make adverse findings against him. This will be unprecedented, as a sitting president would have to appear before MPs during an investigation. Politically, the judgment will damage Ramaphosa and his ANC brand, with local government elections looming in November.

Politically, the judgment will damage Ramaphosa and his ANC brand, with local government elections looming in November

Opposition parties such as the EFF, which challenged the now illegal vote of December 2022, are already baying for Ramaphosa’s blood, celebrating that Phala Phala is firmly back on the agenda of parliament.

But the development represents a strong endorsement of South Africa’s constitutional state, as it affirms that everyone is equal before the law. The judgment demonstrates that simple parliamentary majoritarianism can never trump the constitution, teaching ANC MPs that they ought to take the constitutional mandate of holding the executive accountable much more seriously, instead of being guided by blind party loyalty.

For his part, the president has pledged to fully co-operate with the upcoming parliamentary probe. But there may be serious ramifications for the future of the GNU and the country in general. When it pushed through its vote against the section 89 report four years ago, the ANC had an outright majority. This time it’s a different ball game, as it’s not guaranteed the support of all its GNU partners, especially the biggest, the DA.

The DA has committed to protecting constitutionalism and accountability and will be guided by evidence presented to the impeachment committee before it comes to a verdict.

However, it will be some time before the impeachment committee starts its work in earnest, as National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has a long list of boxes to tick before the committee is constituted.

Hopefully the legislature, its dereliction of duty exposed by the Constitutional Court, does not bungle the process this time around. The stakes are high, and it’s going to be a bumpy road ahead.