South African President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a legal bid to block revived efforts to impeach him, a counter-offensive that ties his political survival to the credibility of Pretoria’s most respected institutions.
The challenge comes almost two weeks after a landmark Constitutional Court ruling ordered parliament to restart an impeachment inquiry into Ramaphosa’s handling of the theft of $580,000 cash hidden inside a sofa at his Phala Phala private game farm. In a sworn statement, Ramaphosa asked judges to overturn the 2022 independent panel’s recommendation that he may have committed serious misconduct, calling its findings “irrational” and based on “hearsay.”
Ramaphosa listed previous investigations by the National Prosecuting Authority, the tax agency, the central bank, and the Public Protector, that cleared him of wrongdoing. A guilty verdict could cast a damaging shadow over these bodies, undermining public trust and investor confidence in Africa’s biggest economy.