South African court halts impeachment inquiry against President Ramaphosa over farm theft case

A Western Cape high court judge halted a parliamentary committee from proceeding with impeachment hearings against South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pending resolution of his separate legal challenge, according to BBC reporting. The temporary halt gives the president a reprieve in a high-stakes accountability case as his party navigates its loss of parliamentary majority following 2024 elections.

The case centers on an alleged theft at Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo province in 2020. Burglars stole at least $580,000 in US dollar bills hidden in a sofa. Ramaphosa said the cash came from the sale of buffaloes. An independent panel convened in 2022 found he might have a case to answer, per BBC reporting.

In May, South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled that parliament had acted unlawfully by shelving the panel's report, forcing the reinstatement of the impeachment inquiry. Three judges heard Ramaphosa's latest legal challenge; two ruled in his favor, meaning the majority judgment temporarily halts impeachment proceedings until his other court case is heard and finalized in September, according to BBC reporting.

Ramaphosa's legal team argued that proceeding with the impeachment committee's work until his separate case was resolved could cause him irreparable reputational harm. In that challenge, Ramaphosa contends the panel "misconceived its mandate, misjudged the information placed before it and misinterpreted the four charges advanced against me," per BBC's account.

Details of the theft emerged publicly in 2022 when former spy chief Arthur Fraser, an ally of Ramaphosa's predecessor Jacob Zuma, sent an explosive dossier to police highlighting the theft. Fraser accused the head of state of hiding the theft from police and tax authorities, according to BBC reporting. Because the stolen cash was in foreign currency, exchange control laws may have been contravened.

Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing. The Democratic Alliance, an opposition party now part of the coalition government, said the ruling was not unexpected but noted it did not prevent the committee from continuing with preparatory work. The uMkhonto weSizwe party, led by Zuma and now also in opposition, accused the president of using courts to stop a process trying to uncover what happened at his farm. The ruling ANC welcomed the decision and urged other parties to refrain from what it called politically motivated distortions as the legal process unfolded, per BBC reporting.