ActionSA Calls for Section 89 Committee to Consider All Relevant Phala Phala Evidence
Press Statement by Athol Trollip MP
ActionSA Parliamentary Leader
ActionSA has yesterday written to the Speaker of the National Assembly requesting formal clarification that Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment committee may consider all relevant evidence and developments relating to the Phala Phala matter, including information that has emerged since Parliament’s flawed 2022 decision to halt the process.
The Constitutional Court has already found that Parliament acted unlawfully and irrationally in its handling of the original Section 89 process. It is therefore critical that the revived impeachment inquiry is not artificially constrained by the incomplete evidentiary record that existed at the time.
ActionSA’s position is clear: while the subject matter of the inquiry is defined by the Independent Panel Report and the underlying Section 89 process, the committee cannot reasonably be expected to determine constitutional accountability while ignoring significant subsequent developments and the emergence of new facts directly related to the same matter.
Since Parliament’s constitutionally flawed 2022 decision, substantial additional information has entered the public domain regarding the Phala Phala burglary, the amount allegedly stolen, the handling of the matter by state institutions, and the conduct of those implicated.
ActionSA believes that any credible constitutional inquiry must be empowered to consider all relevant and material evidence necessary to determine whether the President committed conduct contemplated under Section 89 of the Constitution.
Our request to the Speaker therefore seeks confirmation that:
The committee may consider supplementary evidence and developments arising after 2022 where relevant to its mandate;
The committee’s work is not frozen to the evidentiary record that existed at the time of the original parliamentary vote; and;
The committee retains the authority to summon witnesses, request documents, and obtain additional information necessary to fulfil its constitutional obligations.
This is an effort to ensure that Parliament does not repeat the same constitutional failures of 2022 as identified by the Constitutional Court.
South Africans deserve a process that is thorough, credible, and free from political shielding or procedural limitation.
The Section 89 committee must be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it leads.
ActionSA Calls for Section 89 Committee to Consider All Relevant Phala Phala Evidence
ActionSA has yesterday written to the Speaker of the National Assembly requesting formal clarification that Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment committee may consider all relevant evidence and developments relating to the Phala Phala matter, including information that has emerged since Parliament’s flawed 2022 decision to halt the process.
The Constitutional Court has already found that Parliament acted unlawfully and irrationally in its handling of the original Section 89 process. It is therefore critical that the revived impeachment inquiry is not artificially constrained by the incomplete evidentiary record that existed at the time.
ActionSA’s position is clear: while the subject matter of the inquiry is defined by the Independent Panel Report and the underlying Section 89 process, the committee cannot reasonably be expected to determine constitutional accountability while ignoring significant subsequent developments and the emergence of new facts directly related to the same matter.
Since Parliament’s constitutionally flawed 2022 decision, substantial additional information has entered the public domain regarding the Phala Phala burglary, the amount allegedly stolen, the handling of the matter by state institutions, and the conduct of those implicated.
ActionSA believes that any credible constitutional inquiry must be empowered to consider all relevant and material evidence necessary to determine whether the President committed conduct contemplated under Section 89 of the Constitution.
Our request to the Speaker therefore seeks confirmation that:
This is an effort to ensure that Parliament does not repeat the same constitutional failures of 2022 as identified by the Constitutional Court.
South Africans deserve a process that is thorough, credible, and free from political shielding or procedural limitation.
The Section 89 committee must be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it leads.