South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has reaffirmed its support for President Cyril Ramaphosa after a Constitutional Court ruling revived the parliamentary process linked to the Phala Phala farm scandal.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the party’s National Executive Committee remained fully behind Ramaphosa and had not discussed recalling him. He insisted the court had not found the president guilty of wrongdoing or ordered his removal from office.
“The Constitutional Court did not order an impeachment trial of the president. The court did not find the president guilty of anything. The court did not direct that the president be removed from office,” Mbalula said.
The court ruled last week that Parliament acted unlawfully in 2022 when it blocked further impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa over the theft of foreign currency from his Phala Phala game farm. The ruling set aside the earlier parliamentary vote and cleared the way for the National Assembly to revisit the matter through its constitutional processes.
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has since initiated the process to establish an impeachment committee, which will examine the report of an independent panel that found Ramaphosa may have a case to answer.
Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing. He has said the money stolen from the farm in 2020 came from the legitimate sale of buffaloes and that he reported the theft to the head of his security detail. The scandal, which became public in 2022, led to allegations that he failed to properly report the crime and may have breached anti-corruption and foreign currency laws.
Opposition parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, have renewed calls for Ramaphosa to resign, arguing that the court ruling confirms Parliament must hold him accountable. The ANC, however, says the ruling concerns procedure and does not amount to a finding of guilt.
Mbalula said Ramaphosa’s resignation was “not on the table” and that the ANC supported his decision to seek judicial review of the independent panel’s report.
The Phala Phala matter remains one of the most damaging controversies of Ramaphosa’s presidency. While previous investigations by financial authorities and a public watchdog cleared him of wrongdoing, the revived parliamentary process ensures the scandal will continue to test both his leadership and the ANC’s ability to defend him in a more fragmented political environment.
