Cyril Ramaphosa’s counsel has countered that the case is stillborn because the National Assembly had a right to reject the findings of the Ngcobo panel
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He argued in his application that the panel could not place a reverse onus on him to refute Fraser’s claims, which included that the money was donations from African and Middle Eastern countries smuggled into South Africa by Ramaphosa’s former special adviser, Bejani Chauke. In a founding affidavit filed in mid-February, the EFF argues that the National Assembly’s rejection of the report was irrational because the facts, and the rules of parliament, left no room for a reprieve for Ramaphosa.
He added that this was precisely what happened, as foreshadowed by ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe’s warning to members that those who defied a three-line whip would face expulsion. “On a proper interpretation, the National Assembly could only have voted down the report if no prima facie case was made against the president.’’Malema argued that the rule must be amended because it was susceptible to such abuse.
The Ngcobo panel found prima facie evidence on each of the four charges raised in complaints of misconduct.The EFF said the prohibition on doing so, in section 96 of the Constitution, was an absolute one and the panel’s conclusion that whether his game farm was turning a profit was irrelevant, was correct.
On the third and fourth charges, the panel found that it was possible that the president behaved in a manner inconsistent with his office and exposed himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business. But it must fail because it did not make out a case that the chamber failed to fulfil a duty that was specific to it.
“Once the Constitution itself makes the removal of the president discretionary by adoption of a resolution, it necessarily authorises members of the National Assembly to vote on the matter,” he said But even if those findings were unassailable, which Ramaphosa disputes, this would not help the EFF because the National Assembly still held a wide discretion as to whether it accepted or rejected its report.
But this cannot be conflated with the work of the panel, which must find “sufficient evidence to warrant an impeachment process. It requires more than a prima facie case,” Harris said.
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