South Africa's top court revives impeachment process against president

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's constitutional court revived on Friday impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over a scandal dubbed "Farmgate" by local media, saying parliament had acted unlawfully by blocking the process in 2022.

The scandal centred on allegations made by a former intelligence official that Ramaphosa tried to cover up the theft of about $4 million in foreign currency stashed in furniture at his Phala Phala game farm in 2020.

Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman before he became president in 2018, admitted there had been a break-in but said the thieves only stole $580,000, which he said were proceeds from the sale of buffaloes.

He denied wrongdoing and was never charged with a crime, but an independent panel found evidence he may have committed misconduct.

In its ruling on Friday, the constitutional court said a December 2022 vote in parliament that blocked the panel's report from being referred to an impeachment committee was inconsistent with the constitution and set aside.

It ordered that the report should be referred to an impeachment committee.

The legal challenge was brought to the country's highest court in 2024 by the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who were later joined by a smaller opposition party in the case.

Ramaphosa's African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in an election in 2024 and now governs as part of a broad coalition with other parties.

After the court's ruling, the ANC's main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said in a statement that it would participate fully in the impeachment committee and not prejudge its outcome.

- Nilutpal Timsina and Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning and Emelia Sithole-Matarise/Reuters