South African Leader to Challenge Decision on How he Handled Theft at His Personal Residence

President Cyril Ramaphosa has filed papers with the Constitutional Court urging that it declare the scathing Section 89 Phala Phala report as unlawful and to set it aside. In the affidavit, the President particularly refers to paragraph 264 of the Independent Panel’s report which states that there is prima facie evidence that the President may have committed: a serious violation of section 96(2)(a) of the Constitution; a serious violation of section 34(1) of the Preventing and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and serious misconduct in that he violated section 96(2)(b) of the Constitution by acting in a way that is inconsistent with his office and/or by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business. In the second part of his affidavit, the President applied for leave for the courts to allow him to bring this matter directly to the Constitutional Court in the interests of justice in terms of section 167(6)(a) of the Constitution and rule 18 of the rules of this court. Ramaphosa argued that there should be finality and certainty about the legality of the panel’s processes because of the consequences that followed its recommendations.

SOURCE: DAILY MAVERICK