The MKP has lost its bid to appeal against a Western Cape High Court order interdicting Parliament’s Impeachment Committee from holding public hearings in the inquiry preparing to probe the conduct of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In its latest judgment, the court said the party failed to present compelling reasons for granting it leave to appeal the order in the SCA.

EWN reports that the court noted it was due to hear the next instalment in the President’s legal challenge against his impeachment next week and an outcome in that case was likely before an appeal would be heard by the appellate court.

Ramaphosa is facing impeachment over events that followed the theft of $580 000 from his Phala Phala farm in 2020.

A week ago, the MKP argued that the High Court had overstepped its powers by interfering in an ongoing parliamentary process to hold the head of state accountable.

The Constitutional Court had already denied the ATM and other parties that joined the application leave to appeal directly to it. In their judgment handed down on Friday, Justices Andre le Grange, Matthew Francis and Dianne Davis said while this was not a determining factor in their decision to deny the applicants leave to appeal, it was still relevant. 

The court said the importance of this case did not, in itself, make it a compelling reason for an appeal.

This week the division will hear Ramaphosa’s arguments that the parliamentary report that probed evidence in the Phala Phala matter, and led to his impeachment, was flawed.

The court said the interim order it granted Ramaphosa would lapse once this case was determined.

Full EWN report