President Cyril Ramaphosa has told the High Court in Gauteng that arresting Russian President Vladamir Putin, if he travels to South Africa for the Brics summit in August, would be a declaration of war against Russia.

And the president did not want the public to know that.

However, the court ruled on Tuesday that Ramaphosa and his government's response to the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) legal attempt to force the government to arrest Putin should be made public.

"It would be a reckless, unconstitutional and unlawful exercise of the powers conferred upon the government to declare war with Russia by arresting President Putin," Ramaphosa told the court in his affidavit, which he argued should be kept a secret.

The court disagreed with the Presidency's assertions that Ramaphosa wanted to keep his affidavit secret "to keep the interactions with the ICC [International Criminal Court] on the warrant of arrest against President Putin confidential".

In the affidavit, which has since been made public, Ramaphosa said he did not want to risk waging war with Russia.

"It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia. I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic, and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights," he said.

In arguing for confidentiality, Ramaphosa quoted a Rome Statute article which states that a requested country "shall keep confidential a request for co-operation and any documents supporting the request confidential, except to the extent that the disclosure is necessary to the execution of the request". South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which governs the ICC.

Following Tuesday's judgment, the Presidency said that Ramaphosa "was never opposed to making the affidavits public; it was only in compliance with the ICC directive that the Presidency sought to maintain confidentiality on the affidavit".

The High Court order came in response to the DA's application that the government must "take all necessary steps to arrest and detain President Putin for surrender to the ICC" should he arrive for the Brics summit, expected to run from 22 to 24 August in Johannesburg.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March, accusing him of war crimes relating to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine since February last year.

The DA is relying on the Supreme Court of Appeal's (SCA) 2015 judgment that it was unlawful for the government not to have arrested Sudan's former president Omar al-Bashir when he attended the African Union summit in June of that year. The ICC had also issued an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir for alleged war crimes he committed during his 26-year reign before being ousted by a 2019 military coup.

Ramaphosa said in his affidavit that the DA's demand for the government to arrest Putin was "incompetent" because "the government of South Africa is not cited as a party to the application, and no relief can therefore be granted against it".

The DA has cited government ministries such as justice, police, international relations and cooperation, as well as the national police commissioner.

The DA disputed Ramaphosa's arguments in its replying affidavit, saying the 2015 SCA Al-Bashir judgment "referred to the cited state functionary as the government".

"For this reason alone, the respondents' complainant is baseless," said Elzanne Jonker, the DA's attorney of record.

She added that Ramaphosa, in his papers, had not claimed that Putin was entitled to immunity from arrest and surrender to the ICC, either internationally or domestically.

"All defences seek to poke holes in the way the DA has brought the case, rather than to assert that, if President Putin arrives, the government is entitled to arrest him. Yet at the same time, the president never clearly states that, he will be arrested," she said.

"Instead, he [Ram...

Chairperson of the Section 194 committee inquiring about suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's fitness for office, Qubudile Dyantyi will respond to Mkhwebane's latest attempt to remove him by Friday.

Last week, the beleaguered Mkhwebane brought her second application for Dyantyi's recusal.

The Section 194 committee is inquiring whether Mkhwebane displayed misconduct or incompetence warranting her removal from office.

Mkhwebane's application has its genesis in allegations by her husband, David Skosana, that the late African National Congress (ANC) MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson solicited bribes of R200 000 each for herself, Dyantyi and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina.

Skosana opened a complaint with the police while Mkhwebane did so with Parliament's ethics committee.

Dyantyi and Majodina have publicly denied the allegations.

Joemat-Pettersson died on 5 June. Her death is the subject of an inquest.

After Mkhwebane, backed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the African Transformation Movement, insisted on Dyantyi's recusal at a meeting of the Section 194 committee last month, he indicated that he would consider a written recusal application, as required by the committee's directives.

On 12 July, Mkhwebane filed her formal application for his recusal, compiled by her counsel, Advocate Dali Mpofu SC and his juniors, advocates Bright Shabalala and Hangwi Matlhape, a day before the Constitutional Court upheld her suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa and dismissed her challenge to the impeachment proceedings.

Mkhwebane presented seven grounds for Dyantyi's recusal:

Allegations of bribery, corruption and/or extortion against the presiding officer;

The chairperson is a subject of a pending investigations by Parliament's ethics committee (sic);

Chairperson is a subject of a pending police investigations (sic);

Disparaging media statements and interviews;

Committee and/or chairperson is proceeding despite Public Protector's lack of legal representation;

The role of Joemat-Pettersson as a member of the committee; and

The role of Majodina as the ANC chief whip.

In her application, Mkhwebane argued that it is immaterial whether actual bias from Dyantyi exists and that questioning her and her legal team's motives in bringing a recusal application is also grounds for recusal.

According to a statement from Parliament, Dyantyi noted the recusal application and informed Mkhwebane's attorneys that he would respond in writing by Friday.

"Mr Dyantyi indicated that he will apply his mind to the content of the application. The committee awaits the summation of evidence from the evidence leaders. The committee has noted that Advocate Mkhwebane did not indicate her intention to make a closing argument or submit a written closing statement," reads the statement.

Mkhwebane has a history of accusing those attempting to hold her accountable of bias or disparaging them.

In September last year, she brought another application for Dyantyi's recusal, along with an application for the recusal of DA MP Kevin Mileham. She claimed that Dyantyi had been biased against her and her legal team, and had allowed the process to be procedurally unfair.

Dyantyi refused to recuse himself.

"I do so in the belief that the Public Protector has failed to establish any grounds upon which it can be said that I am biased or that my conduct may give rise to an apprehension of bias," he stated on 17 October.

Mkhwebane wanted Mileham to recuse himself because the motion that led to the impeachment proceedings was moved by his wife, DA MP Natasha Mazzone, in her capacity as DA chief whip at the time.

Even though the motion was adopted by the National Assembly - thus becoming a motion of the National Assembly - Mkhwebane and her legal team continue to refer to it as the "Mazzone motion" and refer to Mazzone as the "complainant".

Mileham, too, refused to recuse himself.

Mkhwebane subsequently challenged Dyantyi's decision in court, ...

The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has set aside the African National Congress's (ANC's) chaotic May 2022 Ekurhuleni regional conference in which Mzwandile Masina was elected leader.

"The eighth regional conference of the Ekurhuleni region of the ANC, held at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways on 27 to 29 May 2022, and all decisions, resolutions and election results emanating from the conference are set aside," Judge Denise Fisher ruled on Monday.

The verdict means that the conference will have to be reconvened.

A group of disgruntled ANC members took the matter to court last year after the conference was marred by fraud allegations and the allegedly unfair exclusion of branches.

In the judgment on Monday, Fisher said the ANC's own constitution was not adhered to by TK Nciza, who oversaw the preparations for the conference at the time. Nciza was elected as regional secretary at the conference.

The judge also said Nciza and ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane unilaterally decided to exclude some branches from participating in the conference.

"In order to conform to constitutional prescripts of justice and fairness, the taking of decisions must be in accordance with an empowering rule and must be procedurally fair. If the decision to qualify a member of a branch is not taken in a procedurally and substantively fair manner and this has a material effect on the rights of the applicants, the applicants are entitled to relief," the judgment stated.

The judge found that it was clear that the procedures in the lead-up to and after the conference were not based on the law.

"Undoubtedly, the processes leading to the exclusion of the branches had no foundations in the guidelines or the constitution. The decision by Mokonyane to disqualify these branches on the purported complaint of Nciza is unlawful and void."

The judge added that the fact that the national organising committee of the ANC concluded that the results of the conference should be quarantined, showed that there was a problem with fairness and adherence to rules.

The ANC national executive committee (NEC) was also criticised for not deciding on what actions to take concerning irregularities raised.

The NEC decided to refer the matter relating to disqualified branches and quarantined votes back to the provincial executive committee (PEC) after marathon meetings that ran into the early morning.

The Gauteng ANC PEC decided shortly after its conference in July that the regional conference matter had been settled.

The judge said," In this case, the entire lapse in process was so egregious that it evidences a complete disregard for the application of fair process on the part of the national organising committee."

"The NEC followed this up by abdicating its responsibility to a conflicted PEC, led by their very actor whose conduct was under scrutiny. In my mind, in doing this, it acted contrary to its duties under its own constitution and denied the applicants of their rights."

The Ekurhuleni ANC was supposed to hold a special regional council in June to replace Masina as leader and Nciza.

Masina resigned as a councillor in November 2022 after a bitter spat with the Gauteng ANC over its coalition strategy. He was elected as an ANC NEC member at the ANC's national elective conference in December.

Mokonyane said on Monday that she believed the election of the ANC's Gauteng leadership would not be affected by the court's decision.

Speaking to News24 on the sidelines of a wreath-laying ceremony of predecessor, Jessie Duarte, Mokonyane said she had not heard about the judgment yet, and would speak to the party's lawyers about the way forward.

"But I don't think that [the court judgment] will affect the PEC of the ANC. It is branch delegates that attend a conference, and not only regional leadership. The lawyers will reflect on that. This is my own immediate response. Interpreting [the judgment] and understanding it in its entirety is important. We will be going to the of...

African National Congress (ANC) first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane says the party will not lobby the government to pardon former president Jacob Zuma.

This followed a recent Constitutional Court decision that could see the former president return to jail.

The apex court dismissed an appeal of a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that Zuma's release on parole was unlawful.

It is now up to correctional services commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale to decide if Zuma must return to jail.

The former president is currently in Russia seeking medical treatment.

Asked whether the ANC would call for the pardoning of the former president, Mokonyane said: "That would be called interference.

"The most important thing is that we think there has to be objectivity in handling this matter, and the relevant authorities have that task of reflecting on it and ensuring that it is handled in a manner that will not create unnecessary perceptions going forward."

Zuma was jailed in 2021 and was expected to serve a 15-month sentence for defying a subpoena to give evidence at the Zondo Commission.

Former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser released the former president on medical parole in a decision that has been ruled unlawful.

While the ANC will not lobby for a pardon for Zuma, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has indicated it would ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to pardon him should he be sent back to jail.

"If they say he must go to [jail], I will go to him and argue my case with him that the guy is sick.

"The guy is old; his struggle credentials, his service to the public office and the fact that he served time in prison and the fact that parole on its own does not mean you are free; you continue to serve even from outside.

"It is enough for you to give him a presidential pardon to avoid the possibility of instability which was experienced in KZN," EFF leader Julius Malema said on Friday.

On coalition governments following next year's general elections, Mokonyane neither rejected the Democratic Alliance nor EFF as potential partners should no party receive outright majorities in provincial legislatures or the National Assembly.

She said the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) had decided to establish regulations that would govern how to work in coalitions in the future and those regulations must clearly state the minimum programmes.

"We will work with everyone and anyone who agrees with us on those minimum programmes. So, the NEC [has] yet to deliberate and do an assessment of the current coalitions. Gauteng [has] yet to give us a report as well," she added.

Meanwhile, former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils warned Ramaphosa he should not allow South Africa to be a "pawn" to imperialist nations.

Kasrils said Western nations were warmongers, referring to Russia's war with Ukraine, calling Ukraine NATO's "proxy".

"If we don't stand foursquare together, those imperialists - comrade president [Ramaphosa], you will know it more than us - will want to browbeat us into being their pawns," he added.

South Africa has deployed the army in four of its provinces on Friday after at least 21 trucks carrying goods were set on fire on national roads in various parts of the country over the past week.

Authorities have not established the motive for the attacks but Police Minister Bheki Cele said there is a possibility of economic sabotage against South Africa. He did not say who might be behind the campaign but police are hunting for at least 12 people believed to be linked to the attacks.

"These are organised and sophisticated operations," Cele said in a statement released by the South African government's official news agency.

Cele said there was no evidence that the truck burning was connected to the week-long violence and unrest in July 2021, when more than 350 people were killed and businesses were looted in a wave of protests sparked by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court.

That case was back in the headlines on Thursday when South Africa's apex Constitutional Court upheld a ruling that Zuma's early release from prison on medical parole was improper and he should serve the remaining 13 months of his 15-month sentence. South Africa braced itself on Friday for more violent unrest over the decision.

The Department of Corrections has not said if it will order Zuma back to jail or if the time he spent on medical parole will count as him having served his sentence. South African media reports said the 81-year-old former president was in Russia receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Soldiers were deployed in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal where Zuma is from, and the central province of Free State. The army would support police in their response to the truck attacks, the South African Department of Defence said.

Cele said 21 trucks had been burned down since Sunday in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Sunday, when the truck burning apparently started, was the second anniversary of the start of the 2021 violence.

"No matter the motive, the country's law enforcement remains on high alert and is hard at work at preventing more attacks but also finding these individuals or gangs of thugs who are hell-bent on causing havoc on our roads," Cele said.

Authorities have not reported any deaths or serious injuries related to the torching of trucks.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the government is still trying to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attend the next month's Brics summit.

As a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant for his arrest, South Africa is obliged to arrest Putin, should he come to SA. But this is an unthinkable proposition for the government, as the government invited him.

"It's a big dilemma for us. Of course, we cannot arrest him. It's almost like you invite your friend to your house, and then arrest them. That's why for us, his not coming is the best solution.

"The Russians are not happy, though. They want him to come," he said in an interview in Johannesburg on Friday.

Mashatile was tasked with dealing with the dilemma by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and proposed three options, none of which have been accepted by all the Brics partners. These included relocating the summit to China, Putin not attending but sending his foreign minister in his place, and holding a virtual summit.

"So, we are in a situation where the summit will probably be here, and the Russians want Putin to come. So, we've now decided to leave this matter with the president who is talking to Putin. The president is going to the Russia-Africa summit later this month, so they will continue to talk. We want to show him the challenges that we face because we are part of the Rome Statute and we can't wiggle out of this," Mashatile said.

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor confirmed last week that the Brrics summit will be held in South Africa.

Mashatile said that no decision had been taken to uninvite Putin, and the strategy remained one of persuasion until Ramaphosa met him in Russia at the end of July. Uninviting him was tricky as Russia had been an original member of Brics while SA joined later, he said.

South Africa's bonds and currency were hit hard after the claim by US ambassador to SA Reuben Brigety that South Africa had sold arms to Russia, which were loaded onto the now famous Lady R, which had docked in Simonstown. Mashatile says he is keenly aware of the financial consequences for South Africa should Putin arrive and not be arrested.

Former president Jacob Zuma is currently unwell and seeking medical assistance in Moscow, Russia, News24 has confirmed.

This is as the Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed the Department of Correctional Services' application for leave to appeal a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that he must go back to prison.

Two sources with direct knowledge of Zuma's trip said the former president had left on Monday for Moscow, where he was receiving medical treatment.

He flew commercially to Russia, accompanied by six VIP protectors paid for by the state.

Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi confirmed to News24 that the former president was in Moscow and was seeking medical assistance.

"He went for medical check ups. He has not been feeling well," Manyi said. He is expected to return to South Africa next week.

Zuma has long relied on the Russian healthcare system, ever since he was allegedly poisoned in 2014.

In dismissing the application for leave to appeal Zuma's medical parole, the Constitutional Court said an appeal had "no reasonable prospects of success".

This means the November judgment of the SCA, which said: "Mr Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence. He must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to do so," stands.

Zuma was jailed in July 2021 for 15 months for contempt of the Constitutional Court after he refused to obey an order to appear before the Zondo Commission.

However, hardly two months later, he was released on medical parole after the then-national commissioner of correctional services, Arthur Fraser, overruled the Medical Parole Advisory Board's (MPAB) recommendation that the former president did not qualify for it.

The Democratic Alliance, AfriForum and Helen Suzman Foundation asked the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to review Fraser's decision and set it aside. Judge Elias Matojane found the decision unlawful.

Manyi said the foundation would not comment on the Constitutional Court decision.

"It was only DCS that appealed the SCA judgement, and H.E President Zuma only applied for leave to intervene as an interested party only if the appeal was to take place," he said.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile's spokesperson's assertion he must live in a R37-million mansion owned by an enterprise run by his son-in-law and son is "simply ludicrous", says Rise Mzansi.

Following the second instalment of News24's investigation into Mashatile's lavish lifestyle, Rise Mzansi will now amend its initial complaint to the Public Protector.

On Wednesday, News24 revealed Mashatile was staying in a R37-million house in an exclusive Waterfall estate in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The house is registered on a 99-year lease to Legacy Properties.

According to company records, the directors of Legacy are Mashatile's son, Thabiso, and his son-in-law, Nceba Nonkwelo.

Nonkwelo Investments received at least four loans from the Gauteng Partnership Fund (GPF), totalling at least R30-million, between 2013 and 2017 - overlapping with Mashatile's second stint as human settlements MEC.

According to Nonkwelo, the loans were to develop a property in Highlands, Johannesburg, for student accommodation which, News24 has learned, was to be named Hunter Heights.

Construction, however, has not been completed, with no discernible construction having taken place on the property.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gauteng Human Settlements and Infrastructure MEC Lebogang Maile ordered the GPF's board of directors to undertake an urgent investigation into whether the fund offered excessive loans, spanning more than a decade, to Nonkwelo Investments.

Mashatile's spokesperson, Vukani Mde, and the deputy president's son, Thabiso, said Mashatile had to move to the house because of threats by a former girlfriend in March 2023, shortly after he married another woman.

But Rise Mzansi is not buying this.

"The deputy president's spokesperson cites security concerns as the primary reason for Mashatile to occupying his official state residence.

Tebogo Moalusi, the party's spokesperson, said, "This is simply illogical and ludicrous given the permanent security around state residences and the deputy president himself."

In the investigation's first instalment, News24 reported Mashatile lived a life of luxury in expensive homes, owned by businesspeople who benefitted from state contracts.

One of his largest benefactors is Edwin Sodi, the politically connected businessperson currently on trial on charges of corruption and fraud linked to a R255-million Free State asbestos eradication tender, together with former Free State premier Ace Magashule, who was recently expelled from the African National Congress.

After that report, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Rise Mzansi laid complaints with the Public Protector.

On Wednesday, the DA's Solly Malatsi said the party would request the Public Protector to extend the scope of her investigation to include these latest allegations.

On Thursday, Rise Mzansi announced the same.

"In order to assist the work of the Public Protector and the assigned senior investigator, Rise Mzansi will submit the latest revelations to add to the docket as part of the ongoing investigation by the Chapter 9 body," said Moalusi.

"The Union Buildings are occupied by a president and a deputy president who are compromised and focused on fighting their own political battles and allegations of unethical and criminal conduct, rather than building a capable state and the country we all deserve."

The unlawful appointment of a Limpopo government official implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal and another who has a criminal record for fraud, are expected to test President Cyril Ramaphosa's "renewal" project ahead of his visit to the province on Friday.

Ramaphosa will host the presidential imbizo - or community gathering - in Limpopo amid a scenario in which provincial government officials are blatantly ignoring Cogta MEC Basikopo Makamu about the reversal of two appointments he did not concur with, making them invalid in line with the Municipal Systems Amendment Act.

The appointment of Morris Maluleke as municipal manager at the Mogalakwena Local Municipality was ruled "unlawful" by the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane in September last year, but Maluleke is still in the post. Mogalakwena is an ANC-led municipality.

News24 has seen a report dated May 2023 by the Limpopo ANC provincial executive committee, which states that the municipality spent more than R20-million in legal fees trying to overturn the High Court's judgment.

The party conceded that the money could have been used to deal with "service delivery issues", including "sewer spillage, water provision and [the] patching of potholes".

Spokesperson Jimmy Machaka authored the Limpopo ANC report. Machaka sits on the provincial executive committee.

Speaking to News24 on behalf of the Limpopo ANC, Machaka confirmed authoring the May report and said the party "supported the appointment of Maluleke". He added that it would allow Mogalakwena "time and space" to deal with the court matter.

"We are worried about the amounts [spent], but it is something that is out of our control," Machaka said.

The next court date for Mogalakwena's leave to appeal application is 4 August.

But sources in Limpopo said the municipality would ask for another postponement as part of an alleged delay tactic to stall the removal of Maluleke as the municipal manager.

"They are abusing municipal funds because they know they will get away with it. There is no hope of the High Court's decision being overturned, and Maluleke knows this," said one source, who asked to remain anonymous.

VBS scandal and criminal records

According to a national government warning letter dated April 2022, which News24 has seen, Maluleke deposited R50 million into the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank in 2018 while he was the chief financial officer of the Madibeng Local Municipality in the North West.

It is against the Municipal Finance Management Act for municipalities to deposit money into mutual banks.

Mbulelo Sigaba, the acting director-general of institutional development in the national co-operative governance department, warned the Mogalakwena council in his April 2022 letter that Maluleke, although he resigned before he was disciplined, had a tainted past related to VBS.

Only R20-million of Madibeng's money was recovered, Sigaba said.

Sigaba's letter read, "Although Mr Maluleke does not appear in the record of dismissed staff, the [Mogalakwena] municipality's attention is drawn to the fact that, while acting as chief financial officer and municipal manager, respectively, at Madibeng Local Municipality, the municipality was allegedly implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank investment."

In May, Mogalakwena, according to a document authored by MEC Makamu, appointed Kulungwana Ngomana as its chief financial officer despite a 2017 fraud conviction.

Makamu, in a document dated 18 May 2023, wrote that the Municipal Finance Management Act stipulated that anyone found guilty of corruption or fraud should serve a 10-year cooling period "before a person may be redeployed in a municipality".

"The State Security [Agency] report indicates that the preferred incumbent has committed fraud.The municipality is requested to comply with all legislative requirements pertaining to the appointment of senior managers," Makamu wrote.

His document was addressed to Mogalakwena Mayor Ngoako Taueatsoala, who, along with Maluleke, ignored Makamu's di...

In a unanimous judgment written by Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, the Constitutional Court upheld President Cyril Ramaphosa's suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and dismissed her application to halt the Section 194 inquiry into her fitness for office on Thursday.

In June 2022, two days after Mkhwebane informed him that she was investigating the Phala Phala matter, Ramaphosa suspended her.

It came after letters went to and fro since March about her suspension, pending the Section 194 inquiry, which started in July.

Mkhwebane applied to the Western Cape High Court to have the suspension overturned and to have the Section 194 process declared unlawful.

In September, a full Bench of that court appeared unconvinced by the bulk of Mkhwebane's challenges to the impeachment process against her, but it found that "from the objective facts, the decision of [Mkhwebane] to investigate the president and to put 31 questions to him [about the break-in], prompted the president not to wait a day more and to immediately suspend her".

Given that Ramaphosa was "sitting with a letter from [Mkhwebane] with a long list of questions" that he was required to answer within 14 days at the time he suspended her, the High Court found that to "suggest that such a suspension would not have any effect on delaying the course of investigation would be a difficult proposition to convincingly sustain".

"Thirdly, the expansive nature of the questions that the president was required to answer in the said short space of time in respect of events that took place some two years ago may well have caused the president to conclude that 'there she goes again' in those circumstances, rather than to have to contend with [Mkhwebane], he was better off with any person but [Mkhwebane]," it stated.

But the apex court didn't agree after the Democratic Alliance and Ramaphosa appealed.

Mkhwebane filed a cross-appeal, which the apex court found to be meritless.

Justice Maya said they found that the mere fact that Mkhwebane was investigating Ramaphosa, wasn't enough to say there was a conflict of interest when he suspended her.

The suspension didn't have any benefit for him, as it did not hamper the investigation, and there was no evidence that he suspended her due to the Phala Phala investigation.

"It cannot be said that the president's decision was irrational," Maya said.

Furthermore, the court found Ramaphosa had "rational reasons" for the suspension, including allowing her to prepare for the impeachment proceedings. The suspension wouldn't cause her irreparable harm, it added.

The court also noted that the independent panel Parliament had appointed found that there was a prima facie case for her removal, and that the court itself made "grave" findings against her in the past.

Mkhwebane must pay part of the costs personally.

Arguments were heard in November.

Mkhwebane, and the African Transformation Movement have complained about the long wait for a judgment. Mkhwebane said the judgment would be merely academic.

On 30 June, Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka released the report on Phala Phala, which cleared Ramaphosa.

After several delays, Mkhwebane didn't conclude her testimony before the Section 194 inquiry and refused to answer the committee's questions, which it had to submit in writing.

The committee will now only consider the evidence already before it is expected to adopt its report on 28 July.

Mkhwebane's term expires on 14 October, at which time she will receive a gratuity of around R10-million.