Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign immediately after South Africa’s Constitutional Court revived impeachment proceedings linked to the Phala Phala farm cash scandal.
The court ruled on Friday that Parliament acted unconstitutionally in 2022 when it blocked further proceedings against Ramaphosa after an independent panel found that he had a case to answer over foreign currency stolen from a sofa at his private game farm. The ruling means the panel’s report must now be referred to an impeachment committee for further investigation.
Malema welcomed the judgment as a victory for accountability and said Parliament must move quickly to begin impeachment proceedings. The EFF was among the opposition parties that challenged the National Assembly’s earlier decision, accusing African National Congress lawmakers of using their majority at the time to protect Ramaphosa from scrutiny.
Ramaphosa has consistently denied wrongdoing. He has said the money stolen from his Phala Phala farm in 2020 came from the legitimate sale of buffaloes and that he reported the theft to the head of his security team. However, the scandal has raised persistent questions about why large amounts of foreign currency were kept at the farm, whether the cash was properly declared, and how the theft was handled.
The president’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said Ramaphosa respected the Constitutional Court’s judgment and would continue cooperating with all lawful processes. In a statement, Ramaphosa said no person is above the law and that allegations must be tested through due process “without fear, favour or prejudice.”
Two earlier investigations, including by the South African Reserve Bank and a public watchdog, cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing. But the Constitutional Court’s decision reopens the parliamentary accountability process rather than deciding whether the president is guilty of misconduct.
The Phala Phala controversy has followed Ramaphosa for years and remains one of the most damaging scandals of his presidency. He survived an earlier impeachment motion when the ANC still held a parliamentary majority, but the party lost that dominance in the 2024 elections for the first time since the end of apartheid.
Analysts say Ramaphosa may still survive any future parliamentary vote, but the court’s ruling places renewed pressure on him and on lawmakers now required to revisit a case they previously shut down.
