The Constitutional Court chief registrar has indicated the court would deliver the much-anticipated judgment on the Phala Phala case, involving President Cyril Ramaphosa within a month.
The chief registrar Simone-Lanique Tyamela in a letter to EFF leader Julius Malema on Wednesday said chief justice Mandisa Maya indicated the preparation of the judgment is at an advanced stage and its delivery is expected within a month.
This comes as the EFF was picketing outside the top court, complaining that the court heard the matter in November 2024 and more than a year later had not delivered a judgment.
The EFF initiated its case against the National Assembly and National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza in the top court in February 2024, three months before the 2024 local government elections.
The EFF wants the court to declare irrational the National Assembly’s decision in 2022 to not adopt the Independent Panel’s report which found Ramaphosa has a prima facie case to answer regarding the theft of foreign currency from his Phala Phala farm in 2020.
More than $580,000 (R9.4m) was stolen from the farm.
The party wants the court to declare that the resolution by the National Assembly was unlawful and proposed a remedy that the matter can be referred back to parliament for another vote.
The panel, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, found the president may have committed a serious violation of the law which requires any person who holds a position of authority to report the offence of theft involving an amount of R100,000 or more to the police.
When the president was alerted to the theft at his farm, he reported the matter to Gen Wally Rhoode, a member of the Presidential Protection Unit and did not necessarily report it to the police.
The panel further found the president’s conduct may have breached a section of the constitution which stipulates executives may not act in any way that is inconsistent with their office or expose themselves to any situation involving the risk of a conflict between their official responsibilities and private interests.
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