The Constitutional Court today, Friday, declared Parliament’s 2022 decision to block a Section 89 panel report into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s handling of the Phala Phala scandal unconstitutional, reopening the impeachment process.
This ruling brings renewed attention to the 2020 theft at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, where approximately $580,000 in unreported foreign cash was taken. An independent panel, led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, had previously identified prima facie evidence suggesting that Ramaphosa might have engaged in serious violations of the constitution, prior to Parliament’s ANC majority rejecting the push for an impeachment inquiry in December 2022.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu referred to the judgment as “a test of democracy” and affirmed that the party would honor the decision and examine its consequences.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM), which contested the decision alongside the EFF, expressed approval of the ruling, stating that it confirmed that “no president, governing party, or institution stands above the Constitution.”
The Presidency acknowledged that Ramaphosa respects the ruling and the judiciary’s independence.
