South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a legal bid to overturn a parliamentary report that reopened the possibility of impeachment proceedings over the controversial “Farmgate” scandal.
In papers filed at the High Court in Cape Town on Tuesday, Ramaphosa argued that the independent panel appointed by parliament in 2022 had misunderstood its mandate and wrongly interpreted allegations linked to the theft of cash from his private Phala Phala farm.
The panel had concluded that the president “may have committed serious misconduct” and could have violated the constitution after around $580,000 allegedly hidden inside a sofa was stolen from the property in 2020.
Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, insisting the money came from the legitimate sale of buffalo from his farming business.
The legal challenge comes after South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled earlier this month that parliament acted unlawfully when it voted against launching an impeachment inquiry four years ago, despite the panel’s findings.
The judgment cleared the way for lawmakers to reconsider the matter, and parliament’s speaker has since established a 31-member committee to decide whether formal impeachment proceedings should begin.
The case has become one of the biggest political controversies of Ramaphosa’s presidency and comes at a sensitive moment for the ruling ANC, which lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 elections and now governs through a coalition.
South African law requires foreign currency to be deposited with an authorised dealer, such as a bank, within 30 days — one of the issues raised in the allegations surrounding the Phala Phala cash theft.
