JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Constitutional Court on Wednesday declined an appeal against an interim interdict halting public hearings of Parliament's impeachment inquiry into the country's president Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala case.
"The court has concluded that it is not in the interests of justice to hear the matter at this stage, given the imminent determination of the review in the Western Cape Division of the High Court, the outcome of which will render the interim interdict moot," the court said.
In a majority judgment on July 24, the Western Cape High Court granted Ramaphosa an interim interdict preventing the impeachment committee from proceeding with its work until his challenge to the independent panel report is decided.
Several political parties subsequently approached the Constitutional Court, seeking to overturn the ruling, while the impeachment committee separately instructed the state attorney to pursue an appeal.
The Western Cape High Court is scheduled to hear Ramaphosa's review application from Sept. 2 to 4.
Following Wednesday's top court order, Makashule Gana, chairperson of the impeachment committee, said the committee would proceed in accordance with the Western Cape High Court judgment.
The Phala Phala case stems from the alleged theft of about 580,000 U.S. dollars 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 report in 2022. ■