Overview
- Speaker Thoko Didiza declined the African Transformation Movement’s motion of no confidence on Wednesday, saying the motion duplicates issues already before Parliament following the Constitutional Court judgment.
- The Constitutional Court last month struck down a rule that let MPs halt an impeachment inquiry and ordered Parliament to refer the Phala Phala matter to a Section 89 committee for further investigation.
- Parliament is forming a 31‑member S89 committee with seats allocated across 16 parties, including one seat for the ATM, to conduct the formal inquiry into the Phala Phala farm theft report.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he will not resign and has moved to seek expedited judicial review of the S89 panel’s report, creating parallel legal and parliamentary tracks.
- Opposition parties accused the Speaker of shielding the president and staged protests in the Assembly, while the ANC publicly backs Ramaphosa and removal would still require a two‑thirds National Assembly vote, making ouster unlikely without cross‑party defections.