South Africa’s top court revives impeachment inquiry against president
Key takeaways
- The scandal centres on a large sum of foreign currency stolen from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farmhouse in 2020.
- The scandal, dubbed “Farmgate”, sparked accusations that he had failed to properly account for the source of the money hidden in a sofa.
- On Friday, the Constitutional Court’s Chief Justice Mandisa Maya said: “The vote of the National Assembly taken on 13 December 2022 … is inconsistent with the Constitution, invalid, and it is set aside.”
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The scandal centres on a large sum of foreign currency stolen from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farmhouse in 2020.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the State of the Nation address in Cape Town on February 12, 2026 [Rodger Bosch/AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff, AP and Reuters Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026South Africa’s highest court has cleared the way for the revival of impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, ruling that parliament’s decision to block an inquiry four years ago was inconsistent with the constitution.
Ramaphosa avoided impeachment proceedings in 2022 after his governing African National Congress (ANC) party used its parliamentary majority to reject a recommendation by an independent panel that he face an inquiry into the theft of a large sum of cash from his farmhouse two years earlier. The scandal, dubbed “Farmgate”, sparked accusations that he had failed to properly account for the source of the money hidden in a sofa.