How Section 89 works
The rules provide for a two-stage process to establish whether such evidence exists to justify the removal of the president from office.
Retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo (L) handing over the Section 89 independent panel report to the Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula at Imbizo Centre in Parliament, Cape Town. Picture: GCIS
Section 89 of the constitution contains three specific grounds; The National Assembly may remove the president from office (with a supporting vote of at least two thirds of its members), only when the president:
• Has committed a serious violation of the constitution or law
• Has committed serious misconduct
• Or suffers from an inability to perform the functions of office.
University of Cape Town Associate Professor in Public Law Richard Calland discussed in a The Conversation article, the fact that this is a parliamentary process, triggered by a particular section 89 motion, required an objective test to be met which was of very great significance because it required evidence-based finding be made in relation to one or other of the three grounds.
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The rules provide for a two-stage process to establish whether such evidence exists to justify the removal of the president from office.
• The first step is that after the motion has been tabled in parliament, the National Assembly must set up a panel to conduct a “preliminary enquiry relating to a motion proposing a section 89 enquiry.”
• The underlying purpose of the panel is to prevent spurious or vexatious impeachment attempts to proceed without any proper evidential basis.
• Accordingly, the panel must be composed of “three fit and proper, competent, experienced and respected South Africans, which may include a judge, and who collectively possess the necessary legal competence and experience.
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