EFF Disappointed as ConCourt Rejects Bid to Fast-Track Ramaphosa Impeachment Appea
- The Constitutional Court dismissed an urgent application to overturn the suspension of Parliament's Section 89 Impeachment Committee hearings
- The ATM led the bid, with the EFF, MK Party and UAT joining the challenge against the interim interdict blocking the impeachment process
- EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane questioned the court's reasoning, citing uncertainty over when a final judgment in the review case would be delivered
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SOUTH AFRICA — The Constitutional Court has dismissed an urgent application seeking to revive Parliament's suspended impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa, leaving the process on hold pending the outcome of separate review proceedings in the Western Cape High Court.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) led the application, requesting direct leave to appeal a Western Cape High Court order that had placed the Section 89 Impeachment Committee's public hearings on hold. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and United Africans Transformation (UAT) joined the ATM in that challenge. The court additionally refused an application by the MK Party and UAT to file a replying affidavit.
Why the Court declined to intervene
In its judgment delivered on Wednesday, the court reasoned that the outcome of Ramaphosa's review application before the Western Cape High Court would in all likelihood render the interim interdict irrelevant, making it premature to entertain the appeal at this stage.
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"Consequently, leave to file a replying affidavit and leave to appeal must be refused. The Court has decided not to award costs," the ruling stated.
The Western Cape High Court had imposed the interdict last month, preventing the impeachment committee from proceeding until Ramaphosa's review challenge is resolved. The president is seeking to set aside the findings of an independent panel that concluded there was a prima facie case for him to answer in connection with the Phala Phala farm matter.
EFF hits back at ruling
EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane said the party noted the Constitutional Court's decision with disappointment, taking particular issue with the court's characterisation of the review application's resolution as imminent.
Msane noted that the matter is only scheduled to be heard on 2 and 3 September, and that judgments routinely take months to be handed down after hearings conclude.
"There is no certainty as to when judgment will be handed down thereafter. A matter being scheduled for hearing does not mean that its judgment is imminent," she said.
The EFF argues that the cumulative effect of these court processes is to indefinitely delay Parliament's constitutional mandate to determine whether Ramaphosa should face impeachment, while the president's legal challenge winds its way through the courts.
EFF responds to Phala Phala ruling
Briefly News also reported that Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomed the Constitutional Court’s ruling regarding the Phala Phala saga. The ConCourt delivered a landmark judgment on 8 May 2026, ruling that the National Assembly’s decision to reject a report into the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s game farm was unlawful and unconstitutional.
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Source: Briefly News
