CAPE TOWN — The ongoing President Cyril Ramaphosa impeachment court challenge reached a critical juncture today at the Western Cape High Court, where the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) forcefully condemned the urgent application designed to halt Section 89 parliamentary proceedings. Speaking directly to the media outside the courthouse, EFF Treasurer General Omphile Maotwe dismissed the legal maneuver as a transparent delay tactic devoid of both urgency and legal merit.
As the fourth respondent in the case, the EFF is pushing back aggressively against the President’s claims. Maotwe emphasized that the application fails to meet the legal threshold for urgency, pointing out that the underlying issues have been in motion since 2022. Furthermore, she argued the matter is not justiciable in this context, given the established legal trajectory.
Maotwe detailed a pattern of avoidance by the President. She noted that when the initial panel report was first presented to Parliament prior to the voting stage, the President actively sought court intervention to block Parliament from considering it. However, upon realizing he commanded a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, he abruptly withdrew that review application.
Following that withdrawal, the President remained silent for over a year while the EFF pursued the matter all the way to the Constitutional Court. Now that the Constitutional Court has issued a clear judgment directing that the matter be referred to the impeachment committee, Maotwe argued, the President is suddenly rushing to the High Court to interdict the very committee tasked with holding him accountable.
In his submitted application papers, the President’s legal team contends that the panel fundamentally erred in interpreting its own mandate, alleging there was insufficient evidence to prove he acted outside the boundaries of acceptable presidential conduct. Maotwe swiftly dismantled this argument, stating that evaluating the sufficiency of such evidence is the exact constitutional purpose for which the impeachment committee was established.
Highlighting the political contradictions at play, Maotwe reminded observers that during the initial parliamentary voting debates, both the DA and the ANC argued it would be premature to initiate impeachment proceedings specifically because no party had taken the matter on judicial review. Now that the President has initiated a review, she stated, it only confirms he knows his case lacks merit and he is attempting to buy time until the end of his presidential term.
Maotwe stressed that there is no escape from the constitutional process. She clarified that even if the President were to resign or leave office, the EFF maintains that he can still be impeached and stripped of his presidential benefits as a retired head of state.
Expressing strong confidence in the judiciary, Maotwe praised the courts for remaining unbiased and strictly interpreting the law. She flatly rejected any suggestions that the expert panel—comprising two judges and an independent expert—lacked the mandate to proceed. She affirmed that the panel report is an official report of Parliament and stands firmly as is. Moving forward, the EFF is fully prepared to interrogate the report, call witnesses, and get to the bottom of the matter.
The Western Cape High Court is scheduled to commence proceedings on the urgent application at 10:00 AM, where the merit and validity of the President’s bid to halt the process will be thoroughly examined.