ConCourt ruling changes how presidents can be impeached

The Constitutional Court has removed Parliament’s ability to stop impeachment proceedings against a president at an early stage. This is a constitutional process that allows parliament to investigate and potentially remove a sitting president for serious misconduct or violations of the constitution. The court declared part of parliament’s impeachment rules unconstitutional because they allowed Members of Parliament (MP) to block the process even after an independent panel found there may be evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

Chief Justice Mandisa Maya said parliament’s vote had been influenced by a material error of law, while the judgment found the National Assembly had failed in its constitutional obligations. Under the revised rules ordered by the court, once an independent Section 89 panel finds sufficient evidence that a president may have violated the constitution or committed serious misconduct, the matter must proceed to an impeachment committee for a full inquiry The scandal centres on the theft of US dollars from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020. According to Ramaphosa, about $580 000 amounting roughly to R10.7 million, came from the sale of 20 buffalo to Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa and was hidden inside a couch at the farm before it was stolen.

The scandal became public in 2022 when former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser laid criminal charges against Ramaphosa and others, alleging that the burglary had been concealed and improperly handled. An independent Section 89 panel chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo later found there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious constitutional violations and misconduct. The panel raised concerns about how the money entered South Africa, why it was hidden in furniture instead of being banked, and why the burglary was not openly investigated by police.