JOHANNESBURG - Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has welcomed the Constitutional Court decision to set aside the National Assembly vote on Phala Phala.
Speaking outside court after the judgment, Malema said they were “very happy” that the Constitution had won, adding that the impeachment process must kick in immediately.
On Friday, the Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament’s vote was invalid and unconstitutional.
In December 2022, a majority of Members of Parliament -- 214 -- voted for the report to be rejected and for Parliament not to proceed with the process.
The vote followed a report by the Section 89 independent panel, led by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated Sections 96(2)(a) of the Constitution and Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act in relation to a robbery at his Phala Phala game farm in 2020.
“We cannot wait any longer. We have been waiting for too long,” Malema said, calling for Ramaphosa to do himself “a favour” and resign.
READ | ConCourt sets aside National Assembly vote on Phala Phala
“If we had a responsible president, he should be resigning to prepare himself to come and answer. And even if he resigns, he must still come for impeachment.
"You cannot have a president who is preparing for an impeachment process and then occupying the office of the president at the same time,” Malema said, adding that the impeachment process must kick in with immediate effect.
“He should go and concentrate on this impeachment process because it has serious implications on him as an individual.”
“How do you tell your bodyguard to investigate a crime that happened at your farm?. That is abuse of power. There is nothing special about Cyril Ramaphosa; he should have gone to the police station.”
Malema said, among other things, the EFF would demand that the impeachment committee visit Phala Phala as part of the process.
“We want to see how those people opened the hole and how they sneaked in and stole the money. We want to know how the money came in.
"All of the nonsense that was said by the Public Protector, SARS and the Reserve must be exposed. We want the exit evidence of the buffalos and a declaration of those dollars,” he added.
He said his party would use its resources to assemble a large legal team to support the impeachment committee.
“We want to appeal to the Speaker of parliament that her conscience must come back. She must know that this is for the country. They must use their conscience like Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and take a lesson from her. We should always look at what is in the interest of the country.”
Malema said the EFF would not lobby political parties to vote with them.
“They will have to choose a crime over the Constitution. Let them choose crime over the Constitution, even if it means we must walk alone, we will choose the Constitution.”