For now, President Cyril Ramaphosa can breathe easy — a South African High Court has pressed pause on the impeachment process that threatened to make history.

In a major twist to the long-running Farmgate saga, a High Court in South Africa on Friday granted President Cyril Ramaphosa an interdict that temporarily halts the parliamentary impeachment inquiry against him, as reported by cbinews.tv.

You’ll remember the story. Back in 2020, $580,000 in undeclared foreign currency was stolen and reportedly hidden inside a sofa on his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo. The only problem? Details of the heist didn’t come out until two years later.

That delay sparked a firestorm, with accusations that the President had hidden the break-in from both the police and the tax authorities.

Ramaphosa has always denied any wrongdoing, insisting the cash was simply proceeds from the sale of buffalo, and has ruled out resigning.

An independent panel report in 2022 found he may have violated the constitution and had a case to answer. Parliament, where his African National Congress held the majority at the time, voted to reject that report and quashed any impeachment move. The public prosecutor then dropped charges in 2024.

But the plot thickened in May this year when the Constitutional Court overturned that parliamentary vote, paving the way for a new impeachment committee to be set up.

Ramaphosa hit back with a legal review challenging the legality of the original 2022 report, which is due to be heard in September. His advocate argued that putting the President through an impeachment inquiry based on a flawed report would “humiliate” him.

The court seems to have agreed — for now. The ruling spares Ramaphosa further embarrassment until that review is heard.

In a statement after the decision, Ramaphosa said he “reaffirms his respect of judicial independence and separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution,” adding: “The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability.”

Analysts reckon that even if the inquiry does eventually get going — which would be a first for a sitting South African President — he is still unlikely to be removed from office.

Credit: cbinews.tv

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