South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa during the Global Progressive Mobilisation forum in Barcelona on April 18.Oscar DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images
South Africa’s top court has ordered the revival of impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, putting his future in jeopardy in a parliament where his party has already lost its majority.
The ruling has left Mr. Ramaphosa at the mercy of opposition parties that had tried to impeach him in 2022 over a mysterious US$580,000 cash payment that had been hidden in a sofa at his game ranch – purportedly a payment for a herd of buffalo.
Mr. Ramaphosa swiftly confirmed that he will respect the Constitutional Court’s ruling. “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,” his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in a statement.
“The President calls on all South Africans to respect the Constitutional Court judgment and all judicial institutions,” he said.
Mr. Ramaphosa’s party, the African National Congress, held a majority in 2022 and wielded it in a parliamentary vote to shut down the impeachment inquiry. But the court ruled on Friday that the vote was unconstitutional and must be set aside, allowing an impeachment committee to begin investigating the scandal.
The ANC lost its majority in the 2024 election, although it cobbled together a governing coalition with several opposition parties.
A key question now is whether the second-biggest party, the Democratic Alliance, will vote against Mr. Ramaphosa, as it did in 2022. The DA is now a member of the governing coalition. But its votes, together with other parties that have already vowed to seek Mr. Ramaphosa’s impeachment, could be enough to topple him.
Despite serving in the coalition government, the DA has built its brand on law and order and a fight against corruption. It is also jostling for advantage in local elections that are scheduled for November.
“The impeachment committee must now do its work properly, rationally, fairly and constitutionally,” DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said on Friday.
“No one should expect the DA to shield wrongdoing,” he said. “We will not prejudge the outcome. But nor will we allow any person, no matter how high their office, to be placed above accountability.”
Supporters of the Economic Freedom Fighters carry placards outside South Africa's Constitutional Court, in Johannesburg, on Friday.Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
It is unclear whether Mr. Ramaphosa will have the stomach for a lengthy fight in an impeachment process. He reportedly came close to resigning in 2022, when the cash payment was first revealed. Polls suggest his party will fare badly in the local elections, and he is expected to be replaced as ANC leader next year when his second term ends.
The cash scandal erupted when a former intelligence official disclosed that the large sum of U.S. dollars had been hidden under sofa cushions at Mr. Ramaphosa’s ranch in late 2019, and was stolen in a burglary at the ranch about seven weeks later.
The former official said the cash amounted to US$4-million, although Mr. Ramaphosa said it was about US$580,000.
Mr. Ramaphosa said a Sudanese businessman had made the cash payment to purchase a herd of 20 buffalo. But the businessman never took possession of the buffalo, which remained on the farm for unknown reasons.
The theft was kept secret for two years, and a police watchdog later reported that the internal investigation by Mr. Ramaphosa’s security unit was intended to conceal the incident.
An independent panel reported to parliament in 2022 that it had found evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Ramaphosa.
The parliamentary impeachment inquiry, when it is finally established, is expected to hear witnesses and testimony about the mysterious cash at Mr. Ramaphosa’s ranch. Questions will be raised about the source of the U.S. cash, why it was never declared, why it was hidden in a sofa, why the buffalo herd was never delivered and why the investigation was handled secretly by the presidential security unit.
The ANC, lacking a majority, will be unable to control the committee’s investigation.
Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, the fourth-biggest party in parliament, said Mr. Ramaphosa must resign. It was his party that launched the case at the Constitutional Court in 2024, challenging the parliamentary decision to halt the impeachment inquiry.
Analysts are mulling the question of whether Mr. Ramaphosa might resign in the near future to avoid the scrutiny of the impeachment inquiry. But many believe he will stay on as president, partly because the ANC’s prospects in the local elections will be damaged if he resigns and is replaced by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who is much less popular and has been dogged by allegations of corruption.
Another key question is whether South Africa’s coalition government will survive, especially if the DA supports Mr. Ramaphosa’s impeachment. The DA might try to prolong the impeachment inquiry, because it could provide damaging evidence against Mr. Ramaphosa. But when the matter comes to a final vote, it might hesitate to topple the President and the government – as it has hesitated in the past when key budget issues came to a vote.