The African Transformation Movement (ATM) says it will supplement its impeachment motion against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The party says it has instructed its lawyers to take the necessary steps to supplement its impeachment motion by adding the recent Western Cape High Court judgment as part of its added attempt to hold Ramaphosa accountable for the Phala Phala farm debacle.
ATM spokesperson Sibusiso Mncwabe said Ramaphosa was wasting taxpayers’ money in challenging the recent court ruling.
“Ramaphosa and the DA should know that the courts do not work like that and that he was merely wasting taxpayers’ money for personal benefit.
“For this specific reason, the ATM has instructed its lawyers to take the necessary steps to supplement its impeachment motion against Ramaphosa by adding the judgment of the Western Cape High Court and the fruitless and wasteful expenditure of the appeal which is nothing but a back-door malicious re-suspension of the public protector,” Mncwabe said.
The party also said it was pleased with the prompt attention given by the judiciary on the suspension of advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane after Ramaphosa and the DA applied for leave to appeal the re-instatement of Mkhwebane adding that the acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka is colluding with the DA and Ramaphosa to ensure that Mkhwebane remains suspended.
“The ATM is, however, extremely saddened and disappointed by the role played by the acting public protector in the advancement of the DA/Ramaphosa dirty tricks.
“Once again, she has spent public money to mourn an ill-advised intervention aimed at unfairly portraying advocate Mkhwebane in a negative light. It was very sad to watch this display of bad leadership,” Mncwabe said.
The party has also said it condemns the use of public funds to fight Mkhwebane’s reinstatement by President Ramaphosa.
“The ATM condemns Ramaphosa for using public funds to fight the public protector’s return to office, even when the court has stated that he is conflicted, biased and disqualified from participating in the issue of her suspension.
“We fully agree with the submission made by the senior counsel that it is foolhardy for Ramaphosa to ask the full court to sit as Court of Appeal and overturn its own order that advocate Mkhwebane should return to work pending further legal processes which may be necessary in terms of the law,” he said.