Opposition parties want Ramaphosa in that room and they will not take no for an answer

By Anita Dangazele

• Julius Malema says Ramaphosa must appear physically before the Phala Phala Impeachment Committee, take questions himself and not hide behind his legal team.

• The Phala Phala Impeachment Committee is pushing ahead despite Ramaphosa’s court bid to stop it. The interdict hearing is set for 15 July 2026.

Opposition parties left Parliament’s Phala Phala Impeachment Committee meeting on Wednesday with one message for President Cyril Ramaphosa: show up in person and answer the questions yourself.

The 31-member committee, chaired by Makashule Gana, spent the day working through a draft terms of reference document of nearly 40 pages. Several parties said the current wording is too loose. They want it tightened so Ramaphosa cannot send a representative or avoid testifying without consequence.

EFF leader Julius Malema was direct about what the committee expects.

“The president will have to appear physically himself. If he brings his legal team, they will sit behind him, and then he will take the questions and be held accountable,” Malema told journalists outside Parliament after the meeting.

The NCC’s Fadiel Adams put the stakes plainly inside the meeting.

“We can’t leave a backdoor open for him to want to avoid or enable him to avoid accountability in this committee,” he said.

MK Party representative John Hlophe said Ramaphosa cannot refuse to testify.

“If there’s a case to answer, and he refuses to testify, an adverse inference can be drawn against him in law. That’s how law operates,” Hlophe said.

Parties have until 10 July to submit proposed changes to the draft terms of reference.

The committee is also working on appointing an evidence leader. Malema said parties will nominate candidates, consult one another openly, and aim to agree on a single name.

“By the time we come with the product, everybody has engaged on this matter,” he said.

The committee is pushing ahead despite Ramaphosa’s urgent court application to freeze its work. The interdict hearing is set for 15 and 16 July 2026.

The inquiry stems from the 2020 theft of an estimated $580,000 hidden in a sofa at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.

Pictured above: Parliament’s Phala Phala Impeachment Committee met on Wednesday 24 June 2026 to work through its draft terms of reference.

Image source: Parliament of RSA