Ramaphosa launches another fight
President Cyril Ramaphosa has formally objected to the appointment of Advocate Thandazani Madonsela as Evidence Leader of the Impeachment Committee.
In the letter to Parliament, Ramaphosa said he objects to the appointment of Madonsela because it may pose a conflict of interest, which runs counter to the terms of the procedure.
“In terms of the draft terms of reference published on Parliament’s website, the Chief Evidence Leader must not have any real or perceived conflict of interest,” he said.
“I am of the view that Adv. Thandazani Madonsela SC does not satisfy this requirement.”
Chairperson of the Impeachment Committee, Makashule Gana, confirmed that he received a letter from President Cyril Ramaphosa objecting to the appointment of Madonsela.
Gana said that the Committee is now consulting with legal services to assess the options available to the members for responding to the objection.
He said that appointing the Evidence Leader is a crucial step in the Impeachment Committee’s work, and they are looking for a way to ensure the process can proceed.
“We are going to respond to the president, but also give an update to the Committee in terms of what the options are available to the Committee,” he said.
“We have done our part as the Committee, where we recommended that Advocate Madonsela be appointed, but now that we have received this letter from the president, we cannot ignore it,” said Gana.
Gana explained that the president’s letter needs to be considered and that the Committee will need to assess all possible options to ensure the procedure can continue within the law.
A conflict of interest
Ramaphosa presented the Committee with two conflict concerns regarding Advocate Madonsela’s appointment.
The first is that he removed Madonsela as his appointee to the Judicial Service Commission shortly after the 2022 interviews for the appointment of the Chief Justice.
“In these circumstances, there is a reasonable apprehension that Adv. Madonsela SC may harbour a sense of grievance towards me, and that he may act upon it,” Ramaphosa said.
His second concern for conflict was that the ANC representatives didn’t vote on the recommendation because they had received prior guidance from Madonsela, which created a potential conflict of interest.
“Mr Mbalula [Secretary-General of the African National Congress] stated that the ANC’s representatives abstained because Advocate Madonsela SC had recently advised the ANC on matters related to the present impeachment enquiry,” he said.
“I am not aware of the nature or extent of the information disclosed to Advocate Madonsela SC, nor of the nature or extent of the legal advice he provided,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that the ANC addressed a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, raising concerns that Madonsela’s recommendation is based on the legal advice which he previously provided.
The president said that, generally, a legal practitioner should not represent a party in a case that is significantly similar to one in which they previously advised a former client involved.
This is especially true if confidential or privileged information may have been shared.
He also said that a person should not take on a decision-making or quasi-adjudicative role in proceedings concerning a matter in which they previously acted for or advised a party who will be directly or indirectly affected by those proceedings.
“On the information presently available, therefore, it seems to me that the appointment of Advocate Madonsela SC will violate the above principles. Therefore, I submit that his appointment should not be
confirmed,” he said.
Ramaphosa said there is also “a legitimate concern” that Madonsela may possess prior insight into issues relevant to the enquiry, which any other evidence leader, approaching the matter de novo, would not have.”
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