The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) wants parliament’s vote on the section 89 report into Phala Phala scandal last month to be declared invalid and set aside.
The party will ask the Constitutional Court to allow it to oppose Ramaphosa’s application to review and set aside the report of the independent panel, which found that he had a prima facie case to answer.
The EFF made an urgent application for direct access to the Apex Court on Tuesday, with the party asking the court to set aside 13 December’s vote against the adoption of the Section 89’s report on Phala Phala.
The Red Berets wants the vote declared unconstitutional and invalid.
In Late November, the panel which Parliament appointed- released the report, which contained a recommendation that the National Assembly should institute the impeachment proceeding against Ramaphosa.
At first Ramaphosa considered resigning but decided to fight back and ask the Constitutional Court to review the report instead.
The pending court challenge, however, did not prevent the National Assembly from proceeding with a vote on whether or not to impeachment proceedings should be instituted against Ramaphosa. With party discipline enforced, the ANC voted against the report.
In a filed affidavit, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu argues that the report Ramaphosa is challenging cannot be reviewed as the panel was not tasked with taking a “judicial and/or scientific decision”.
Theirs was the “humble” task of determining whether there was prima facie evidence of wrongdoing to advise the National Assembly on what course of action to take regarding the scandal, Shivambu said.
In his application to the Constitutional Court, Ramaphosa accused the panel of relying on the “say-so” of former spy boss Arthur Fraser in determining the impeachment case against him. Ramaphosa insisted that he did nothing wrong in relation to a theft at his Limpopo Phala Phala game farm.
In December ATM also approached the Western Cape High Court in a bid to overturn the National Assembly’s decision.
Source: News24, Business Day, The Citizen, Sowetan Live, image from Twitter: @ISephara