South Africa President Halts Impeachment Inquiry While Battle Over Farmgate Theft Continues
A South African court has granted President Cyril Ramaphosa a temporary injunction to stop a parliamentary inquiry that could lead to his impeachment over the so‑called "Farmgate" scandal. The ruling comes after an independent panel’s report, released in 2022, suggested that the president may face charges for the theft of a large sum of cash from his private farm in Limpopo province.
The theft, which involved nearly 580,000 US dollars stuffed into a sofa, was exposed only in 2024 after leaked documents from former spy chief Arthur Fraser brought the incident to light. Ramaphosa denies any wrongdoing, claiming the cash was proceeds from a buffalo sale and was never hidden from authorities. He has now taken the matter to a different court, challenging the panel’s findings on procedural grounds.
In May, the Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament had violated its own rules by shelving the panel’s report, paving the way for the impeachment process to restart. The president’s injunction seeks to pause the proceedings until the court evaluated his legal challenge, which he says could cause irreparable harm to his reputation if the inquiry continued unchecked.
The decision has drawn a mix of reactions: the Democratic Alliance noted that the injunction was expected but cautioned that it would not stop parliamentary preparations from proceeding. The opposition, led by former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), accused Ramaphosa of abusing the courts to block investigative scrutiny. The ANC, meanwhile, welcomed the ruling and urged the political opposition to “refrain from politically motivated distortions.”
The case underscores the fragile nature of South Africa’s coalition politics. Since the 2024 elections, the ANC no longer holds a majority and must negotiate with other parties to govern, a backdrop that adds weight to the current legal tussles.
Author: Khanyisile Ngcobo, Johannesburg. Published 24 July 2026.
