Reports suggested Ramaphosa forced the ANC into a dramatic climbdown, ordering the party to withdraw from the Phala Phala court case.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: Getty Images/Per-Anders Pettersson
The ANC has hit back at claims of a “fracas” and a presidentially‑ordered “court climbdown” in its National Working Committee (NWC), insisting that its posture in the Section 89 Phala Phala matter was a collective, procedural decision guided by senior counsel, not factional strife, not President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instruction, and not a reversal.
This comes after weekend reports suggested Ramaphosa forced the ANC into a dramatic climbdown, ordering the party to withdraw from the Phala Phala court case and leaving National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza isolated in the legal showdown.
‘Ramaphosa instruction’
According to the Sunday Times, Ramaphosa personally instructed the ANC to abandon its intervention in his review application challenging the Section 89 Independent Panel Report into the Phala Phala scandal.
Multiple senior ANC insiders said the president was angered after learning the party had filed an urgent application to intervene in his bid to interdict Parliament’s impeachment committee, rather than seeking to participate in the broader review proceedings.
His intervention followed an explosive NWC meeting last week, in which some of his closest allies openly questioned whether the ANC should continue to defend him.
‘No fracas’
In response to the weekend reports, the ANC acting spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli said: “There was no fracas, no climbdown, and no improper instruction.
“The ANC rejects this characterisation in the strongest terms.”
Mhlauli underscored that the ANC acted on counsel’s advice, filing a protective notice to preserve options before resolving to participate only as amicus curiae.
“The earlier protective notice was accordingly withdrawn. This is orderly legal sequencing on the advice of counsel; it is not a reversal, and it is certainly not a “climbdown”.
“As the secretary-general, Cde Fikile Mbalula, has made plain, there is ‘nothing untoward’ about the Movement settling its posture in this manner,” she said.
‘ANC not dictated to’
Mhlauli added that ANC decisions are collective, not dictated by individuals
“To suggest otherwise is to manufacture division where none exists.”
In response to criticism of Speaker Thoko Didiza, Mhlauli was equally firm.
“The Speaker has acted impartially and within the constitutional obligations of her office.”
“The ANC is united and focused on the work the people have entrusted to it,” she said, dismissing narratives “engineered to suggest disunity at its highest level.”
Didiza
Didiza has already decided not to oppose Ramaphosa’s review, a stance that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties.
On Friday, Didiza criticised misinformation about her handling of the impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa, maintaining that she complied with all constitutional court directives.
