Archbishop and fellow clergy says S89 report on Ramaphosa farm merely the start of a long process

Retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo at the handover of the Section 89 report to The Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Secretary to Parliament Xolile George at Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa on 30 November 2022. (Photo: GCIS)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp

2 Dec 2022

Anglican Archbishop says the panel report is merely the start of a long process and that passing judgement before final determination could spark ‘lawlessness in South Africa’.

South Africa should not be denied the practice of its constitutional processes in responding to the Section 89 (S89) independent panel report on the burglary that took place at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020, according to the South African Council of Churches (Sacc).

In a statement released on Friday, the council pointed out that the panel report was only the first step in a long process that could determine whether the President would be impeached.

“The Parliamentary system will involve due processes that include a Parliamentary Impeachment Committee, wherein proper evidence would be led,” stated the Sacc.

“The wider powers of the Parliamentary Committee to investigate this matter more deliberately, where the President can defend himself, will hopefully bring in the evidence that may have been gathered by [the South African Revenue Service] and other relevant investigating institutions. It is this due process that our Constitution envisages in difficult situations such as these.”

The S89 report — handed to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Wednesday, 30 November — found that Ramaphosa had an impeachment case to answer over serious violations of the Constitution.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-02-in-the-eye-of-the-storm-inside-the-report-that-might-sink-cyril-ramaphosa/

The Sacc described the S89 report as a “watershed moment for our constitutional democracy”.

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“This panel report is a significant starting point of the National Assembly to entrench its constitutional responsibility of oversight over the executive and holding it to account. For our Constitution places no one or office beyond public accountability.”

The council urged members of the ANC national executive committee to debate the matters around the report without viewing each other in a factional light.

Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba also weighed in on the S89 report on Friday. He emphasised that while no person is above the law, passing judgement on the basis of a preliminary investigation before final determination of the facts could lead to “lawlessness in South Africa”.

“The vast majority of South Africans want to see our political leaders dealing with their problems such as load shedding and joblessness urgently, and are probably getting impatient with seeing a governing party at war with itself,” said Makgoba.

“If the President loses the political support of his party before a final determination of his conduct is made, I call for the establishment of a government of national unity under a respected elder to stabilise the country until the next election.”

Makgoba also called for the formation of an “economic Codesa” (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) within the next year, to address the “real crisis” facing the country: the significant gap between those who benefit from intergenerational wealth and those who are excluded from the economy. DM

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