Johannesburg - The leader of the African Transformation Movement, Vuyo Zungula, has written to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), urging it to intervene about the late release of the Farmgate final report, which cleared Ramaphosa of violating the executive ethics code.
This comes after acting Public Protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in her final report released last week regarding the theft of US dollars in cash from his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020.
The report said the allegation that Ramaphosa had violated the Executive Ethics Code and that there was a conflict of interest between his business dealings and his constitutional obligations “is not substantiated”.
In a letter dated July 6, Zungula says he is concerned by the delay by Gcaleka in finalising the report as well as the lack of interest shown by the JSC in the matter, saying Gcaleka had delayed the report and only released it after more than eight months.
Zungula said the commission had not been consistent in addressing judicial delays.
This comes just days after two judges were suspended by the JSC for their failure to hand down judgments within the specified time frames.
“On November 24, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s suspension matter was heard by the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis. Yet astonishingly, eight months later, we still do not have the judgment by the Constitutional Court, despite the superior court’s act confirming that every effort should be made by the judges to hand down judgments within three months,” Zungula said.
In the letter, Zungula said it was “disconcerting” that no ConCourt justice had faced any consequences despite Mkhwebane also filing an official complaint with the JSC about the delayed judgment in her case.
“It is disconcerting to note that the justices of the Constitutional Court who are responsible for delivering a judgment on advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s suspension matter have not faced any consequences for their delayed judgment despite advocate Mkhwebane laying an official complaint with the JSC. The lack of uniform action in similar situations raises questions about the consistency and fairness of the decision-making process,” Zungula said.
In April, the suspended public protector lodged a complaint with the JSC against retired Constitutional Court Judge Chris Jafta in connection with Jafta’s judgment in a case between Mkhwebane and Ramaphosa.
In her affidavit, Mkhwebane accused Jafta of having breached the judicial code of ethics by stating in his judgment that she had changed the wording of the Executive Code of Ethics in her findings against Ramaphosa in her CR17 investigation.
Zungula said a prompt finalisation of the matter was far too important to ignore after the Western Cape High Court cleared Mkhwebane and reinstated her, but she was prevented from returning to work by Ramaphosa’s application.
“The judgment by the Western Cape High Court on this matter, which is now on appeal in the Constitutional Court, was a landmark judgment that emboldened other Chapter Nine institutions to investigate senior government officials without fear of intimidation from those who occupy senior positions in the government,” Zungula said.
The Star