CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa's lawyer, advocate Wim Trengove SC, claims that the complaints against the President are for political gain.
Trengove argued the complaints are not driven by a desire to see justice prevail.
This comes as the Western Cape High Court, on Wednesday, heard Ramaphosa’s application to review and set aside the Phala Phala report.
“These aren't people seeking justice; they are politicians fighting a political war and they would grasp at an opportunity of gunning for an opposition president.
“ So they're often driven by political reasons. They need merely make a prima facie case, which is a very low threshold,” he said.
The report found that Ramaphosa may have a case to answer in relation to the theft of $580,000 from his Phala Phala game farm in February 2020.
Ramaphosa now wants the report declared unlawful and set aside.
Trengove further argued that, based on Parliament’s rules of engagement, the Independent Panel failed to look at whether the President deliberately acted in bad faith.
“We can't emphasise enough that conduct of the President qualifies for impeachment only if it is done deliberately and in bad faith. We shall show you how the independent panel overlooked that requirement.
“It should have asked itself on every charge whether the evidence shows that the President acted deliberately and in bad faith, and it didn't do so. It was aware of the requirement. It noted the requirement in its report,” he said.