South Africa plans presidential impeachment probe over ‘Farmgate’ scandal

The constitutional court on Friday said that parliament’s decision to block an inquiry four years ago into the scandal was inconsistent with the constitution. The impeachment committee will review the evidence against Ramaphosa regarding the scandal, which centres on a large sum in foreign currency hidden in a sofa at a farm property owned by the president, before deciding whether to recommend formal proceedings. It is expected to deliberate over the matter for several months. The scandal centres on the 2020 theft of $4m in foreign cash that was stuffed in a sofa on Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm. Amid questions about how the president, who took to power on the promise of fighting corruption, acquired the money, whether he declared it, and why it was hidden in furniture rather than in a bank, Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing. He said last week that he respected the court’s judgement to revive impeachment proceedings. However, in an address to the nation on Monday evening, he said that he will not resign, and that he plans to legally challenge an independent panel’s report that found preliminary evidence he had committed misconduct. Ramaphosa’s African National Congress has called a meeting of its National Executive Committee on Tuesday to discuss what to do about the scandal, a party spokesperson said.