South Africa’s constitutional court on Friday overturned a vote in parliament that had quashed the opening of impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over a cash-heist scandal.
Ramaphosa in 2022 easily survived a vote in the National Assembly that could have initiated proceedings to remove him from office over allegations that he concealed a huge theft of foreign currency at his cattle and game farm in 2020.
The National Assembly, where Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress held a majority at the time, rejected an inquiry panel report that concluded the president may be guilty of misconduct.
The public prosecutor dropped the charges in 2024.
“It is declared that the vote of the National Assembly taken on 13 December 2022… is inconsistent with the Constitution, invalid, and it is set aside,” the head of the Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mandisa Maya said on Fridat.
The court decision followed a complaint lodged by the radical left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party.
The scandal revolved around about half-a-million dollars in cash that Ramaphosa acknowledged were stolen from beneath sofa cushions at his ranch.
The president, who said the money was payment for buffalos bought by a Sudanese businessman, was accused of failing to report the matter to the police, as well as abusing his powers and exposing himself to a conflict of interest over the affair.
In June 2022, South Africa’s former spy boss Arthur Fraser accused Ramaphosa of having the burglars kidnapped and bribed into silence.
