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A South African court has temporarily halted impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the controversial Phala Phala cash scandal, granting his application to suspend the process pending a judicial review of the allegations against him.
The Western Cape High Court ruled on Friday that Parliament’s impeachment committee must stop all proceedings until the court determines Ramaphosa’s challenge to a 2022 independent panel report which concluded that he “may have committed” serious constitutional violations and misconduct.
Delivering the ruling, Judge Andre le Grange ordered that the parliamentary inquiry be suspended while the review application is pending.
“Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review… respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing,” the judge ruled.
The case centres on the alleged theft of about $580,000 concealed inside furniture at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo Province in 2020. The President has consistently denied wrongdoing, insisting that the money was proceeds from the legitimate sale of 20 buffaloes and that the burglary was duly reported to the police.
The controversy first emerged after former South African intelligence chief Arthur Fraser accused Ramaphosa of concealing the robbery from law enforcement and tax authorities, alleging that as much as $4 million had been stolen from the property. Ramaphosa has repeatedly rejected the allegations and maintained that he has no intention of resigning over the matter.
Following Friday’s judgment, the South African Presidency reaffirmed Ramaphosa’s commitment to constitutional governance and judicial independence.
“The President reaffirms his respect for judicial independence and the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution,” the Presidency said in a statement, adding that he would continue to cooperate fully with all lawful accountability processes.
The impeachment proceedings, if allowed to continue, would mark the first such process against a sitting South African president. Although Parliament rejected the 2022 panel report after lawmakers from the governing African National Congress used their majority to block impeachment proceedings, the Constitutional Court overturned that decision in May 2026, paving the way for the establishment of a parliamentary impeachment committee.
Ramaphosa’s legal challenge to the 2022 panel report is scheduled to be heard in September. The outcome of that case is expected to determine whether Parliament can proceed with impeachment proceedings over one of the most politically sensitive scandals of his presidency.
