South Africa court pauses impeachment proceedings against president

A South African court ruled on Friday in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to pause impeachment proceedings against him over a scandal involving half-a-million dollars stashed in a sofa at his ranch.

Ramaphosa asked the Western Cape High Court to stop the work of a parliamentary impeachment committee until his review of a November 2022 report that found he "may have committed" serious violations and misconduct.

Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing and ruled out resigning over the incident since the allegedly undeclared stash of foreign currency came to light after it was reported stolen in 2020.

"Pending the determination by this court of the applicant's review... respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing," Judge Andre le Grange announced.

Ramaphosa is accused of hiding from police and tax authorities a 2020 break-in and theft of $580,000 at his luxury Phala Phala farmhouse in the northern Limpopo province.

He says he reported the break-in to the police and that the money came from the sale of 20 buffaloes.

The complaint against him was laid by a former spy boss and one-time ally of Ramaphosa's predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who claimed Ramaphosa hid a robbery of $4 million from police and tax authorities.

After criticism from opposition parties that he was avoiding accountability, Ramaphosa said after the court decision Friday he "reaffirms his respect of judicial independence and separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution."

"The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability," a statement said.

Should the impeachment proceedings go ahead, they would be the first for a sitting South African president.

The court will in September hear Ramaphosa's bid to overturn the 2022 independent panel report that found he may have a case to answer.

It was rejected in a vote in the National Assembly, where Ramaphosa's ruling African National Congress held a majority, quashing the opening of impeachment proceedings at that time.

The public prosecutor dropped the charges in 2024. However, the Constitutional Court overturned the parliament vote in May this year, leading to the establishment of the parliamentary impeachment committee.