CAPE TOWN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's parliamentary impeachment committee on Wednesday agreed to request President Cyril Ramaphosa to appear before it as part of an inquiry into the Phala Phala case.
The parliament said in a statement that the Section 89 Impeachment Committee had considered legal advice on the president's appearance, recommendations for the appointment of an evidence leader and draft terms of reference guiding its work.
According to the statement, the committee agreed that Ramaphosa would not be the first witness to testify, saying it must first establish a case to which the president could respond.
"We hope that the matter will not reach the point where the President must be summoned. However, if he refuses to appear, the committee will have to summon him," Committee Chairperson Makashule Gana was quoted as saying.
The committee also resolved to recommend the appointment of Advocate Thandazani Madonsela as evidence leader. "The matter will be referred to the Secretary to Parliament to make the appointment," Gana said. "The committee recommends a candidate, after which Parliament's administrative processes take effect."
The committee further considered its draft terms of reference and said the amended document would be sent to Parliament's Legal Services Division for refinement before being presented again to the committee.
The impeachment proceedings stem from the Phala Phala case, involving the alleged theft of about 580,000 U.S. dollars in cash from Ramaphosa's private game farm in Limpopo Province in 2020. The incident raised questions over whether the money was properly declared to authorities.
An independent panel led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found in its 2022 report that there was prima facie evidence Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct. The National Assembly voted against adopting the report and pursuing impeachment proceedings later that year, but the process was revived after the Constitutional Court ruled in May that Parliament had acted unlawfully in rejecting the panel's report.
In July, the Western Cape High Court granted an interim interdict halting the impeachment committee from holding public hearings linked to the case pending the outcome of Ramaphosa's application to review the independent panel's findings, but the committee later said it would appeal the ruling. ■
