South Africa court pauses impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa

A South African court has ruled in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s request to temporarily halt impeachment proceedings linked to the Phala Phala cash scandal.

The Western Cape High Court granted Ramaphosa’s application to pause the parliamentary impeachment process while it considers his legal challenge to a 2022 independent panel report that found he “may have committed” serious constitutional violations and misconduct.

Ramaphosa has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has rejected calls to resign over the controversy, which centres on foreign currency allegedly stolen from his Phala Phala farm in 2020.

Delivering the ruling, Judge Andre le Grange said: “Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review… respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing.” Ramaphosa is accused of failing to properly report the theft of $580,000 that had been stored at his luxury Phala Phala ranch in Limpopo Province.

The president has maintained that he reported the burglary to the police and said the money came from the sale of 20 buffaloes. The complaint against him was filed by a former intelligence chief and ally of former President Jacob Zuma, who alleged that Ramaphosa concealed a robbery involving $4 million from police and tax authorities.

Following Friday’s court decision, Ramaphosa said he remained committed to accountability. The statement read: “The President reaffirms his respect of judicial independence and separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution. The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability.”

The court is expected to hear Ramaphosa’s application to overturn the 2022 panel report in September. The report had initially been rejected by South Africa’s National Assembly, where the governing African National Congress (ANC) held a majority, preventing impeachment proceedings from moving forward at the time.

However, South Africa’s Constitutional Court overturned that parliamentary decision in May, leading to the establishment of an impeachment committee. Separately, the country’s public prosecutor dropped criminal charges related to the Phala Phala matter in 2024.