South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to block the start of a parliamentary impeachment inquiry linked to the long-running “Farmgate” controversy, filing an urgent case in court to halt the process before it advances further.
Court documents indicate that Ramaphosa is asking the High Court to pause any impeachment-related proceedings until it first rules on his separate challenge to earlier findings by an independent panel, which had accused him of possible misconduct. The panel’s conclusions had previously helped revive political momentum behind efforts to investigate him in parliament.
The scandal centres on the alleged theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from a sofa on his private game farm in 2020. Ramaphosa has maintained that the money came from the sale of livestock and has denied any wrongdoing, but questions have persisted over why such a large sum was stored in furniture and whether proper declarations were made.
Although the country’s top court recently reopened the door for impeachment proceedings by overturning an earlier parliamentary decision that had halted them, analysts say Ramaphosa still has strong political support and may ultimately survive if lawmakers proceed to a vote.
The High Court is expected to hear arguments on the misconduct findings in early September, a case that could shape the legal and political direction of the impeachment effort.
