{"id":40839,"date":"2026-07-28T10:28:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=40839"},"modified":"2026-07-28T10:28:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:28:06","slug":"sa-opposition-party-welcomes-constitutional-court-clarity-on-president-impeachment-ruling","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-opposition-party-welcomes-constitutional-court-clarity-on-president-impeachment-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"SA opposition party welcomes Constitutional Court clarity on President impeachment ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The ATM says it is encouraged that the Constitutional Court will be asked to clarify last week\u2019s Western Cape High Court judgment that granted Ramaphosa an interim interdict against Parliament\u2019s impeachment process.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The ATM, which initiated the Section 89 process in Parliament, is a respondent in the matter. The party has approached the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis, seeking clarity on the effect of the High Court order and the way forward for Parliament\u2019s Impeachment Committee.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ATM Leader Vuyo Zungula said the application is aimed at protecting accountability and ensuring that public office bearers are not shielded from scrutiny. \u201cWe want to assure South Africans that if anyone occupies public office, they must be held accountable,\u201d Zungula said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Zungula said SA\u2019s political and governance problems are linked to what the ATM views as a culture of impunity. \u201cThe reason why there is a Madlanga Commission, there is all of this mess that we have in our country, it is because there is a culture of impunity,\u201d Zungula said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to Zungula, accountability should not depend on political preference or the status of the person involved. \u201cPeople start changing their tune because their favourite is going to be held accountable, but if it&#8217;s someone that they do not like, they aggressively push accountability for that person,\u201d Zungula said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Zungula said Ramaphosa should not be treated differently because of the office occupied. \u201cIt cannot be because President Ramaphosa is the president of the country that he must be subjected to different laws,\u201d Zungula said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Western Cape High Court ruling prevented Parliament\u2019s Impeachment Committee from proceeding with public hearings linked to the Section 89 process. The ATM argues that the judgment has created constitutional uncertainty over Parliament\u2019s oversight responsibilities and the separation of powers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;SABC\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":40841,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-40839","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40842,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40839\/revisions\/40842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=40839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}