President Cyril Ramaphosa has filed a request with Chief Justice Mandisa Maya to initiate a review application against an independent panel report headed by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo.
The request is a procedural step required before instituting civil proceedings against a judge. Section 47 of the Superior Courts Act requires litigants to seek permission from a head of court before taking legal action against a judge, a measure designed to protect judges from frivolous litigation.
The panel report, published in 2022, found that Ramaphosa may have committed a serious violation of the law. The law requires any person in a position of authority to report the theft of R100,000 or more to the police. The case relates to the theft of about $580,000 in cash hidden in a couch at the president’s Phala Phala game farm in 2020.
The panel found the president may have a case to answer because he reported the theft to a member of the Presidential Protection Unit rather than directly to the police.
The report was initially not adopted by parliament. However, the matter became active again after the Constitutional Court ordered this month that the independent panel report be referred to the impeachment committee.