South Africa's Constitutional Court on Friday revived the long-frozen impeachment process against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the so-called Farmgate scandal, ruling that the National Assembly acted unlawfully in 2022 when it voted to block an independent panel's recommendation for a full inquiry.
The case turns on roughly four million dollars in foreign currency that was stolen from a sofa at Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm in February 2020 and never declared. The president has consistently said the money was the proceeds of legitimate game sales and that no laws were broken; opposition parties have argued the absence of disclosure is itself impeachable.
The court did not rule on the underlying allegations. It found instead that the 2022 parliamentary vote — taken when the African National Congress still commanded a comfortable majority — was procedurally invalid because MPs were instructed to disregard the panel's findings without engaging them on the merits.
The political arithmetic has changed since. The ANC lost its outright majority in the 2024 election and now governs in a Government of National Unity with the Democratic Alliance and several smaller parties. The DA has historically pushed to take Farmgate further; how it now handles the question while remaining in cabinet is the most-watched element of the ruling.
Ramaphosa, in a brief statement, said he respected the court and would "comply fully" with whatever process parliament now adopts. His office reiterated the long-standing position that the Phala Phala money came from legitimate buffalo sales.
The ruling lands days before the president travels for an F1 grand prix appearance in support of South Africa's bid to bring the calendar back to Kyalami; Sport Minister Gayton McKenzie has called the trip "a working visit". A separate scandal earlier this spring saw Ramaphosa suspend the national police commissioner over a $21 million contract.
Constitutional lawyers said any new inquiry would likely take months to convene, and that the political pressure created by the ruling is more immediate than the legal threat to Ramaphosa's tenure. The ANC's national executive committee meets next weekend; the agenda has been reset to address the ruling.