A South African court on Friday ordered a temporary suspension of impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the controversy surrounding hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly kept inside a sofa at his Phala Phala farm.
The ruling followed an application by Ramaphosa at the Western Cape High Court seeking to stop a parliamentary impeachment committee from continuing its work while the court reviews a November 2022 independent panel report. The report concluded that the president “may have committed” serious constitutional violations and misconduct.
Delivering the judgment, Judge Andre le Grange ruled that the parliamentary committee must halt its public impeachment hearings until the court determines Ramaphosa’s application challenging the panel’s findings.
“Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review… respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing,” the judge said.
The scandal centres on the alleged theft of about $580,000 in cash during a 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s luxury Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo Province. The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing, insisting he reported the incident to the police and that the money was proceeds from the sale of 20 buffaloes.
The allegations were first raised by a former South African intelligence chief and ally of former President Jacob Zuma, who claimed Ramaphosa concealed a robbery involving as much as $4 million from law enforcement and tax authorities.
Despite mounting political pressure, Ramaphosa has repeatedly dismissed calls for his resignation since the controversy became public.
Following Friday’s court ruling, the South African presidency said Ramaphosa remained committed to constitutional principles and accountability.
“The President reaffirms his respect of judicial independence and separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution,” the statement read.
“The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability.”
If the impeachment process eventually proceeds, it would mark the first time a sitting South African president faces such proceedings.
The High Court is expected to hear Ramaphosa’s application in September as he seeks to overturn the findings of the 2022 independent panel.
Although South Africa’s National Assembly had previously voted against initiating impeachment proceedings—thanks to the majority held by Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC)—the country’s Constitutional Court overturned that decision in May, paving the way for the establishment of the parliamentary impeachment committee.
Meanwhile, criminal charges linked to the Phala Phala controversy were dropped by the public prosecutor in 2024.
