CAPE TOWN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's parliamentary impeachment committee said on Wednesday it would appeal a court ruling that temporarily halted public hearings linked to President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala case.
The Western Cape High Court last week interdicted the committee from proceeding with public impeachment hearings pending the outcome of Ramaphosa's application to review the process.
According to a statement issued by Parliament, the committee received a briefing from Parliament's Legal Services Division on the judgment and considered its implications before deciding to challenge the ruling.
The committee also decided that members of the independent panel who authored the report that triggered the impeachment process would not be required to testify before it, "as the panel's mandate concluded with the submission of its report," Parliament said.
It added that, once appointed, evidence leaders would guide the committee through the report and supporting evidence.
The committee was also scheduled to consider nominations for evidence leaders and draft terms of reference for the inquiry, but Parliament said it could not complete all agenda items because of lengthy deliberations.
Parliament said the committee would reconvene on Aug. 5 and Aug. 7.
Ramaphosa filed an urgent application on June 12 to suspend the impeachment committee's work while challenging the findings of an independent panel report into the Phala Phala case. On May 26, he launched a separate challenge, asking the Western Cape High Court to review and set aside the panel's findings.
The Phala Phala case arose from the alleged theft of about 580,000 U.S. dollars in cash from Ramaphosa's private game farm in Limpopo Province in 2020, triggering questions about whether the money had been properly declared to the authorities.
The independent panel, chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, said in its 2022 report that there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct in connection with the matter. However, the National Assembly later voted against adopting the report and pursuing impeachment proceedings.
The impeachment process was revived after South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled in May that Parliament acted unlawfully when it voted against adopting the panel's 2022 report. ■
