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In a landmark ruling delivered this morning, Friday, the Constitutional Court has declared Parliament’s 2022 decision to reject an independent panel report into the Phala Phala farm scandal unconstitutional and invalid, potentially reviving impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Acting Chief Justice Mandisa Maya set the National Assembly’s vote aside and referred the Section 89 panel report back to the impeachment committee, reopening the possibility of formal proceedings under Section 89 of the Constitution.
The ruling stems from a challenge brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) against Parliament’s handling of the report. In December 2022, the National Assembly voted 214 to 148 against adopting the findings of the independent panel, chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, which had concluded there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct and violated his oath of office.
The Phala Phala scandal dates back to February 2020, when thieves broke into Ramaphosa’s private game farm in Limpopo and stole between $400,000 and $580,000 in foreign currency, money the president said was proceeds from the sale of buffalo. Questions were raised over the handling of the undeclared cash, the delayed police report, and the involvement of state security officials in the recovery effort.
While Ramaphosa was cleared by the Public Protector and the South African Reserve Bank on related ethics and exchange-control complaints, the independent panel found grounds for further parliamentary scrutiny under the Constitution’s impeachment provisions.
Friday’s judgment does not determine the president’s guilt or innocence. Instead, it focuses on whether Parliament acted rationally and constitutionally when it voted down the panel’s recommendations without proceeding to a formal impeachment inquiry.
The decision is expected to intensify political pressure on the president and test the balance of power between the executive, legislature, and judiciary in South Africa’s young democracy. Opposition parties have long argued that the original rejection shielded Ramaphosa from accountability.
Parliament’s impeachment committee must now reconsider the panel report in light of the court’s findings. Further developments are expected in the coming weeks as the process unfolds.