JOHANNESBURG - The limits of South Africa’s judiciary are set to face a significant test as Parliament’s impeachment committee prepares to take its battle to the Constitutional Court.
That’s the view of legal analyst Jazz Vilakazi on the showdown between Parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the courts.
The latest development follows a ruling by the Western Cape High Court last month, which granted President Ramaphosa an interdict, effectively halting the work of Parliament’s impeachment committee until a judicial review of the Phala Phala report has been completed.
Vilakazi believes the appeal will be a defining moment for the country’s constitutional democracy, particularly in determining how far the judiciary can intervene in the affairs of the other branches of government.
"This appeal will definitely test the limits of judicial reach into the other spheres of government," he says.
Vilakazi says that the Constitutional Court has previously directed Parliament to amend its impeachment rules, a decision that now lies at the centre of the current proceedings.
He explained that the court had already recognised Ramaphosa's right to seek a judicial review, making the upcoming appeal especially significant.
According to Vilakazi, it would be difficult for the Constitutional Court to side with Parliament without contradicting its earlier judgment.
"It would be quite a querysome issue for the Constitutional Court to side with Parliament considering that they themselves said the president does have a right to review the application,"
He added:
"Of course, if it sides with Ramaphosa, what it is really saying is, 'there is a review hearing taking place in September, let's wait for that and take it from there'."