Online Reporter
A High Court in South Africa on Friday granted President Cyril Ramaphosa an interdict temporarily halting a parliamentary impeachment inquiry against him.
Ramaphosa had sought to stay the public inquiry pending a legal review of an independent panel report in 2022.
It found that he may have violated the constitution and have a case to answer in the so-called “Farmgate” scandal.
This involves the 2020 theft of US$580 000 in undeclared foreign currency hidden in a sofa on his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo province.
Details of the robbery only emerged two years later.
The president is accused of hiding the break-in and theft from both the police and tax authorities.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, saying the cash was the proceeds of the sale of buffalo, and has ruled out resigning over the incident.
The panel report was rejected in a vote in the National Assembly, where his ruling African National Congress held a majority, quashing the opening of impeachment proceedings at that time.
The Public Prosecutor dropped the charges in 2024. — Wires
Bongani Ndlovu