Ramaphosa Defends Cachalia Appointment In Court As Move To Protect Cabinet Stability
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s legal team has insisted that his decision to appoint Firoz Cachalia as acting police minister was made to safeguard the stability and integrity of his Cabinet.
Their arguments were presented as the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party returned to court for a third attempt to challenge Cachalia’s appointment, as well as the special leave granted to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
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The president reshuffled his executive after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive July briefing, during which Mchunu was implicated.
The MK Party and its leader, former President Jacob Zuma, want the court to declare Cachalia’s appointment and the establishment of the Madlanga Commission unlawful.
Legal Battle Over Minister’s Special Leave Intensifies
The MK Party argues that the Constitution does not explicitly empower the president to place a minister on leave of absence, asserting that such leave can be granted but not imposed.
However, Ramaphosa’s lawyers maintain the opposite. They argue that if the president has the authority to hire and dismiss Cabinet members, he naturally retains the power to take necessary measures between those two actions.
Advocate Ngwako Maenetje told the court, “One of the reasons why he placed Minister Mchunu on special leave was to protect the integrity of the national executive that in the meantime while there is serious allegations against a member of the national executive, in his judgement, they must be subjected to investigation before he can act.”
MK Party Says Fight Is About Rule of Law
Although the high court ruled in September that “the horse had already bolted” with Cachalia having been appointed and the Madlanga Commission already operating, the MK Party insists its challenge remains crucial to uphold the rule of law.
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