South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a legal challenge against a report submitted by parliament, paving the way for lawmakers to once again consider impeachment proceedings against him.
In 2022, an independent panel said Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct related to the theft of a large amount of cash hidden in a sofa at his private farm. The President denied any wrongdoing.
Earlier this month, a Constitutional Court ruling said Parliament had acted unconstitutionally when, four years ago, it voted against setting up an impeachment inquiry following the report.
At that time Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) party had the parliamentary majority.
But since the general election in 2024, it has ruled as part of a coalition after losing its majority.
In Ramaphosa's legal challenge, filed on Tuesday in the High Court in Cape Town, the president said the panel “misunderstood its mandate, misinterpreted the information put before it and misinterpreted the four allegations made against me”.
The charges included violations of the Constitution and serious misconduct.
“I am not granting this application lightly,” the President argued in court. He argued that the report should be quashed, thereby quashing the impeachment process.
The Speaker of Parliament has already formed the impeachment committee, comprising 31 MPs from 16 political parties, including nine MPs from the ANC, a key member of the ruling coalition.
The committee will decide whether there are grounds to initiate impeachment proceedings.
The saga – which local media have dubbed “Farmgate” – began in 2020, when $580,000 (£430,000) was allegedly stolen from Ramaphosa's farm Phala Phala in the northern Limpopo province.
Two years later, the independent panel found evidence that the President may have violated his oath of office and concluded that he had a “case to answer”.
South Africa has strict rules for holding foreign currency, which state that it must be deposited with an authorized dealer such as a bank within 30 days. At the time, Ramaphosa said the cash was from legitimate sales of buffalo from his farming business.
BBC