Ramaphosa goes to court to halt impeachment over Farmgate scandal

Cyril Ramaphosa has gone to court to try to stop Parliament from launching an impeachment probe that could become the defining test of his presidency. The urgent filing, made on June 12, seeks to block the National Assembly from moving ahead until judges first hear his challenge to the misconduct findings that reopened the Farmgate case.

At the center of the dispute is a February 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm near Bela-Bela, Limpopo, where foreign currency was hidden inside a sofa. The episode has shadowed the president for years, fueling questions about how much cash was there, where it came from, and whether it was properly declared. Ramaphosa has said the $580,000 in cash came from buffalo sales and denies wrongdoing, while separate reporting has tied the money to a sale involving an overseas buyer, Hazim Mustafa.

The case has now returned to South Africa’s highest political and legal forums after the Constitutional Court ruled on May 8, 2026, that Parliament’s December 13, 2022 vote blocking the inquiry was unconstitutional and invalid. That decision revived the Section 89 process and sent the matter back for reconsideration, putting fresh pressure on a president who came to office in 2018 promising to clean up the African National Congress and restore trust in public life.

The independent panel that first said Ramaphosa had a case to answer was chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo and included retired judge Thokozile Masipa and advocate Mahlape Sello. Parliament released the report publicly on November 30, 2022, and the findings became the basis for an impeachment path that was later halted by the National Assembly. Ramaphosa is now trying to prevent that process from beginning again before the Western Cape High Court hears his separate challenge to the panel report from September 2 to 4, 2026.

The political stakes are high because impeachment would require a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, and the ANC holds only about 40% of seats after the 2024 election. The Democratic Alliance, the ANC’s coalition partner, has sought legal guidance on the revived inquiry, while the ANC has publicly backed Ramaphosa and said it will follow constitutional procedure. For South Africa, the case is more than a scandal over hidden cash: it is a stress test of whether the courts and Parliament can still hold a sitting president to account.