South African Parliament Speaker Will Not Contest President's Impeachment Lawsuit

 South African National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has decided not to oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa's lawsuit seeking to suspend the impeachment process in parliament, the local portal TimesLIVE reports.

Didiza filed a court notice stating that she would abide by the court's final decision on the matter. The document was submitted after parties in the case were given a deadline to respond to the president's application.

According to the portal, Didiza effectively left the matter of opposing the president's lawsuit to the discretion of parliamentary impeachment committee chairperson Makashule Gana. Gana filed a notice of his intention to oppose the president's demands after receiving support at a committee meeting from the majority of parties represented.

The hearings in the case will take place on July 15 and 16 before a full bench of the Western Cape High Court.

During the committee meeting, the ruling African National Congress party did not support Gana's decision to oppose the president. The party later decided to file a separate application to join the proceedings as an interested party, as it was not named by Ramaphosa among the respondents in the case.

In May, Ramaphosa filed a lawsuit with the Western Cape High Court seeking to have the findings of the independent commission, which found indications of constitutional violations in his conduct, declared unlawful.

In the same month, South Africa's Constitutional Court ordered parliament to resume impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa under Section 89 of the Constitution.

In 2020, $580,000 was stolen from Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm, where it was kept under sofa cushions. An investigation by an independent commission formed by the previous parliament concluded on November 30, 2022, that the money had been obtained illegally and that the president had seriously violated the law, recommending the commencement of impeachment proceedings.

However, the National Assembly voted against referring the independent commission's report to the Impeachment Commission for further consideration.

In 2024, the opposition parties Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) filed a lawsuit with South Africa's Constitutional Court, demanding that the impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa be resumed.