Cape Town - The ANC is expected to use its majority in Parliament on Tuesday to vote against the adoption of the damning Ngcobo report, citing the judicial review that embattled President Cyril Ramaphosa filed in the Constitutional Court.
The decision that ANC MPs should toe the party line when voting was announced by treasurer-general Paul Mashatile following a ‘tense’ national executive committee (NEC) on Monday.
“The President of the ANC, comrade Cyril Ramaphosa attended the special NEC and made remarks after which he was allowed to recuse himself. Members of the NEC having received the report of the special NWC held on Sunday engaged extensively, fully and frankly; concluding that the NEC resolved that the ANC will vote against the adoption of the report of the Section 89 Panel, given the fact that it is being taken on review,” said Mashatile.
"We are not supporting a process that will lead to the impeachment of the president," Mashatile said.
In his notice of application, Ramaphosa cited the three members of the panel led by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, National Assembly Speaker Nosivie Maisa-Nqakula and the ATM - the party which tabled the motion of no confidence against him, as the respondents.
The respondents have been given 10 days to give notice to oppose the application. The application is a sequel to the scathing report that concluded that the information placed before the panel disclosed, prima facie, that Ramaphosa may have committed serious violation of the law and the constitution.
In his affidavit, Ramaphosa said the recommendations of the panel were reviewable under the constitutional principle of legality.
“I submit that the panel misconceived its mandate, misjudged the information placed before it and misinterpreted the four charges against me.
It moreover strayed beyond the four charges and considered matters not properly before it,” he said.
Ramaphosa also said just like Parliament was required to act lawfully, the panel should also do the same when conducting an inquiry.
He argued in the papers that the panel interpreted its remit to determine “whether sufficient evidence exists” to mean “whether there is prima facie case against the president”.
“It concluded that information before it ‘discloses, prima facie’ that the president may have been guilty of serious misconduct. The panel was thus mistaken,” he said.
Ramaphosa had confirmed that the millions of US dollars stolen on his farm were from the sale of animals. The money was not banked and appears to have not been declared to the relevant authorities.
The animals that were sold two years ago to a Sudanese businessman have yet to be collected. Ramaphosa had also not reported the theft that took place on his farm to the police, only informing his head of security Wally Rhoode.
But in his court papers filed on Monday, he argued that the panel should have determined whether “sufficient evidence exists” to warrant an impeachment process.
Speaking to the media earlier, EFF leader Julius Malema said South Africa was founded on constitutionalism and the rule of law and not on the continued presidency of Ramaphosa.
Malema said if the ANC voted against the panel’s report, it would be showing the Constitution the middle finger.
“We will defend this panel’s report. We will defend it in public.
We will defend it in Parliament. We will defend it in court because when you take the panel report on review, you are not taking the panel to court because it has ceased to exist.
Ramaphosa is taking Parliament to court,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mapisa-Nqakula rejected the ATM’s request for a secret ballot and the DA’s request for a roll call of the vote on the report.
Political commentator and researcher Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said despite some false appearances of a centre that held the process together, the cannibalism in the party was a polished performance that Ramaphosa’s presidency was unlikely to survive.
“The ANC’s quixotic musings and deflection on the Section 89 panel recommendations can’t be any less real for the people of this country.
The gap between the party’s rhetoric on its instruction to its MPs to oppose the launch of an impeachment inquiry by parliament and their experiences on the party’s reluctance to hold accountable those in its ranks implicated in corruption will lead to more mistrust, more cynicism and less belief in the possibility of progressive change.
“Paradoxically it creates an anti-politics sentiment that leads people to desist from voting for ANC charlatans who hold political power for personal gain. A lot is going wrong in this country.
“Still, as long as the opposition parties and the ANC alliance partners have nothing compelling to say about it, the primary beneficiary of the mess we’re in could be the cash-flush ANC elite,” he said.
Nyembezi said ahead of the elective conference next week, the ANC increasingly does not take good or bad decisions on good governance in the country’s interest.
“It takes good or bad ANC decisions that advance leadership slates. The decision to delay Ramaphosa’s resignation by instructing parliamentarians to toe a party line and a court challenge is vintage. The only question left at the end is, now that we have had the warm-up act since the release of the panel report, when will be the main act of implosion in the ANC?”
Cape Times