Judges take their seat at South Africa’s Constitutional Court ahead of the ruling on whether the parliament failed to hold President Cyril Ramaphosa to account over the “Farmgate” scandal, involving allegations that foreign currency was hidden at his Phala Phala game farm, in Johannesburg, South Africa, May 8, 2026. Image @ REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa braced for a defining political moment Monday, preparing to address the nation as a court-revived impeachment process threatened to derail his presidency over a brazen theft of foreign currency hidden in furniture at his private game farm.
The televised address was scheduled for around 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), according to a statement from Ramaphosa’s office.
The Constitutional Court ruled Friday that a 2022 parliamentary vote — in which the African National Congress used its then-majority to block impeachment proceedings — was invalid. The court ordered that an impeachment committee be established to further investigate allegations surrounding the theft, reigniting a scandal that has dogged Ramaphosa since it first surfaced three years ago.
Ramaphosa himself has acknowledged that $580,000 was stolen from a sofa on his Phala Phala game farm in 2020, though a former intelligence official has alleged the true figure was at least $4 million. The discrepancy has fuelled persistent questions about how a sitting president came to hold such vast sums in cash, whether the funds were properly declared, and why the money was concealed in furniture rather than held in a bank account. Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman before ascending to the presidency in 2018, has maintained the cash represented proceeds from buffalo sales on the farm. A subsequent central bank investigation found no breach of exchange control regulations.
Despite the mounting legal pressure, close allies signalled Ramaphosa had no intention of stepping down. ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that resignation was off the table, a position echoed by political observers who anticipated a combative address from the president.
“I think he will want to, in terms of his own legacy, to fight these accusations and potentially … see out his term, more or less,” said independent analyst Daniel Silke. Ramaphosa’s current term runs until 2029.
The scandal, labelled “Farmgate” by local media, has proven deeply damaging for a leader who swept to power in 2018 on an explicit anti-corruption mandate, pledging to restore the ANC’s battered reputation after years of state capture under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa has consistently denied any wrongdoing and said last week he respected the court’s judgment.
With the impeachment process formally revived, the ANC convened a special meeting of its National Executive Committee for Tuesday to deliberate on the party’s next steps. The high-level gathering reflects the gravity of a crisis that has placed the governing party in an uncomfortable position.
Analysts, however, caution that impeachment remains an unlikely outcome. A successful impeachment vote requires a two-thirds parliamentary majority — a steep threshold. Although the ANC lost its outright majority in the 2024 general election, it still controls roughly 40 percent of seats in the National Assembly, and would likely be supported by key coalition partners, including the Democratic Alliance.
A separate challenge has emerged from former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party, which wrote to the National Assembly speaker over the weekend requesting a no-confidence vote against Ramaphosa. Such a motion requires only a simple majority to pass, but analysts say it faces similarly long odds, given that ANC lawmakers and coalition allies would almost certainly rally behind the president. The speaker had not publicly responded as of Monday.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah