The leader of Africa’s most developed economy faces impeachment proceedings over a scandal from years ago involving around $580,000 in cash that was stashed in a sofa at his game farm and then stolen.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been accused of misconduct over the source of the money and attempting to cover up the theft in 2020 using his personal security team so as to hide its existence. He has denied wrongdoing.
Here’s what to know about the “Farmgate” scandal and why impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa have been revived years later.
The scandal first broke in 2022 when a former head of South Africa’s state security agency walked into a police station, revealed the theft and accused Ramaphosa of money laundering and other offenses. The theft at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala ranch happened in February 2020, a year after Ramaphosa won an election, but wasn’t publicly known.
After the revelations, Ramaphosa acknowledged that the theft happened, but denied wrongdoing, saying he reported it at the time to the head of his police protection unit.
Ramaphosa said that the $580,000 in U.S. banknotes that was taken from the couch was from the legitimate sale of buffaloes at his ranch. He said the money was put under the cushions of a sofa in a spare bedroom in his private residence at the farm by a staff member who was concerned that other workers had access to a safe.
Ramaphosa was a wealthy businessman before becoming president and is known for his love of livestock and game breeding.
An independent panel appointed by Parliament investigated and issued a report saying there was initial evidence of serious misconduct by Ramaphosa, including that the theft wasn’t properly reported, the source of the money was unclear and the amount might have been much more than Ramaphosa claimed.
Ramaphosa also allegedly drew on his contacts with the then president of neighboring Namibia to help discreetly track down a suspect in the theft who had fled there, according to the report. It recommended a full investigation.
Ramaphosa survived an initial vote in Parliament over the scandal in late 2022 when his African National Congress party — which had a majority at the time — voted to reject the panel report, stopping any impeachment process.
However, two opposition parties filed a case at South Africa’s top Constitutional Court, arguing that the evidence of the panel report should have triggered an impeachment committee to be formed to fully investigate if Ramaphosa was guilty of misconduct and should face an impeachment vote.
The court ruled this month in favor of the opposition parties, saying the 2022 vote by Parliament didn’t follow procedure and should be set aside, reviving the scandal and the possibility of impeachment.
Parliament has said that it will form an impeachment committee to fully investigate.
Ramaphosa has said he won’t resign and filed his own court papers this week challenging the findings of the panel report, national broadcaster SABC reported on Tuesday. He has said it has “grave flaws.”
Impeaching Ramaphosa would require at least two-thirds of South Africa’s 400-member Parliament to vote for it, according to the country’s constitution. While Ramaphosa’s ANC lost its outright majority in 2024, it still has the numbers to block an impeachment.
The 73-year-old Ramaphosa is serving his final term as president, which is due to end in 2029.
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