South Africa Opens Impeachment Proceedings Against President Over 'Farmgate' Scandal
Axios (Tổng hợp từ Al Jazeera English)
South Africa's parliament announced it will establish an impeachment committee to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa over the 'Farmgate' scandal, following a Constitutional Court ruling last week. The scandal involves $4 million in foreign cash stolen from a sofa at his farm. Ramaphosa denies wrongdoing and says he will not resign.
South Africa's lower house of parliament announced on May 11 that the Speaker will proceed to set up an impeachment committee to investigate allegations against President Cyril Ramaphosa in the 'Farmgate' scandal. The move follows a Constitutional Court ruling last week that revived impeachment proceedings against the president.
On Friday, the Constitutional Court declared that parliament's decision four years ago to block an investigation into the scandal was unconstitutional.
The impeachment committee will examine evidence against President Ramaphosa related to the incident, focusing on a large sum of foreign currency hidden in a sofa at his farm, before deciding whether to recommend formal impeachment proceedings. The process is expected to take several months.
The scandal stems from the theft of $4 million in foreign cash in 2020, which was stuffed into a sofa at President Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm. Questions surround how he—who came to power on an anti-corruption platform—acquired the money, whether he declared it, and why it was hidden in furniture rather than deposited in a bank. Ramaphosa denies any wrongdoing.
Last week, the president said he respected the court's ruling reinstating impeachment proceedings. However, in a national address on the evening of May 11, he declared he would not resign and plans to legally challenge the report of an independent panel, which found preliminary evidence of misconduct.
A spokesperson for the African National Congress (ANC) said the party will convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee on Tuesday to discuss how to handle the scandal. The case against President Ramaphosa was brought by two opposition parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM). The EFF has called on the president, who has been in power since 2018, to resign.
However, even if the impeachment committee issues an unfavorable conclusion, the president could survive a vote in the lower house, which requires a two-thirds majority to remove him. The ANC still holds more than one-third of the seats in parliament, despite losing its absolute majority in 2024.
