South Africa's top court revives impeachment inquiry against president

"The vote of the National Assembly taken on 13 December 2022 is inconsistent with the Constitution, invalid, and it is set aside. The court ordered that the independent panel's report be referred to an impeachment committee. The case was brought by two opposition parties the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM). The EFF has called on Ramaphosa, who has been in power since 2018, to resign."

"Ramaphosa avoided impeachment proceedings in 2022 after his governing African National Congress (ANC) party used its parliamentary majority to reject a recommendation by an independent panel that he face an inquiry into the theft of a large sum of cash from his farmhouse two years earlier. The scandal, dubbed Farmgate, sparked accusations that he had failed to properly account for the source of the money hidden in a sofa."

"An impeachment committee is due to review evidence against him before deciding whether to recommend formal proceedings. However, even if it does, the president would still likely survive a vote in the lower house of parliament, where a two-thirds majority is required to remove him from office. Ramaphosa's ANC retains more than one-third of the seats in the National Assembly, despite losing its majority in 2024."

"Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money came from the sale of buffalo at his farm. The allegations against Ramaphosa surfaced in June 2022 after South Africa's former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, accused him of attempting to cover up the thef"

A large sum of foreign currency was stolen from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farmhouse in 2020, leading to the Farmgate scandal. South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled that the National Assembly’s 13 December 2022 vote blocking an inquiry was inconsistent with the Constitution and set it aside. The court ordered that the independent panel’s report be referred to an impeachment committee. The case was brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters and the African Transformation Movement. Ramaphosa avoided impeachment in 2022 when the ANC used its parliamentary majority to reject the panel’s recommendation. Ramaphosa denied wrongdoing, saying the money came from the sale of buffalo at his farm. An impeachment committee will review evidence before deciding on formal proceedings, but removal would still require a two-thirds majority in the lower house, where the ANC retains enough seats to likely prevent removal.

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