JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's highest court has set aside lawmakers' vote to reject a report that found credible evidence of wrongdoing by President Cyril Ramaphosa related to a long-running cash scandal, paving the way for impeachment proceedings against him.
Ramaphosa survived a motion to face impeachment proceedings in 2022, when lawmakers from his African National Congress party voted to reject a scathing report that recommended a full investigation into the theft of approximately $580,000 that were found stashed in a couch at his Phala Phala game farm.
The Constitutional Court ruling means the report must now be referred to an impeachment committee for a full investigation, which may decide to vote on impeaching Ramaphosa.
“In the event that the panel (of inquiry) concludes that sufficient evidence exists, the matter must be referred to the impeachment committee,” said Chief Justice Mandisa Maya.
Julius Malema, the leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has called for Ramaphosa to immediately resign and for impeachment proceedings against him to begin.
His party was one of the opposition parties that took the matter to court, accusing ANC lawmakers of using their parliamentary majority to shield Ramaphosa from accountability.
“Ramaphosa is going to jail. With the amount of shenanigans and evidence that will come out of that impeachment process, there is no way that Ramaphosa is not going to jail,” Malema told a crowd of supporters after the ruling was delivered.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the cash was proceeds from the sale of buffalos at his farm.
He said he had reported the theft to the head of his security, but a parliamentary inquiry that probed the incident rejected his version and recommended a full investigation by an impeachment committee.
The long-running scandal has been a political problem for Ramaphosa, with opposition parties calling for his resignation.
He survived the motion while his party still had a parliamentary majority, which it lost in the 2024 elections for the first time since it came to power in 1994. He is currently serving his last term as president.
He has also been accused of tax evasion, money laundering and breaching currency laws, with questions about why money for a legitimate business would be hidden in a couch.
Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Friday that the president had been consistent in providing his full assistance to the various inquiries into this matter, and would continue to do so.
“President Ramaphosa maintains that no person is above the law and that any allegations should be subjected to due process without fear, favour or prejudice,” Magwenya said.
Two previous probes by the reserve bank and a public watchdog cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing.