A South African court on Friday granted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s request to suspend parliamentary impeachment proceedings linked to the Phala Phala cash scandal, in which about $580,000 was allegedly stolen from his ranch.
The Western Cape High Court ruled that Parliament’s impeachment committee must halt its work until the court decides on Ramaphosa’s application to review a November 2022 independent panel report that found he “may have committed” serious constitutional violations and misconduct.
“Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review… respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing,” Judge Andre le Grange said.
Ramaphosa has consistently denied wrongdoing and has refused to resign since the controversy emerged after the theft was reported in 2020.
The scandal centres on the alleged theft of $580,000 in foreign currency hidden inside a sofa at Ramaphosa’s luxury Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo province. He has maintained that he reported the burglary to police and that the money was proceeds from the sale of 20 buffaloes.
The complaint was filed by former state security chief Arthur Fraser, an ally of former president Jacob Zuma, who alleged that Ramaphosa concealed a robbery involving $4 million from police and tax authorities. Ramaphosa has rejected the allegations.
Responding to Friday’s ruling, the presidency said Ramaphosa “reaffirms his respect for judicial independence and the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution.”
“The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability,” the statement added.
If the proceedings eventually move forward, they would mark the first impeachment process against a sitting South African president.
The court is scheduled to hear Ramaphosa’s application in September to overturn the 2022 panel’s findings. Although the report prompted calls for impeachment, the National Assembly — where Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) then held a majority — voted against adopting it, preventing impeachment proceedings from beginning.
The public prosecutor later dropped criminal charges in 2024. However, South Africa’s Constitutional Court overturned Parliament’s decision in May this year, paving the way for the establishment of the parliamentary impeachment committee.
AFP
