UPDATE 2-South Africa's top court revives impeachment process against president

He denied wrongdoing and ⁠was ​never charged with ⁠a crime, but an independent panel found evidence he may have committed misconduct. In its ruling on Friday, the constitutional ⁠court said a December 2022 vote in parliament that blocked the panel's report from being referred to ​an impeachment committee was inconsistent with the constitution and set aside.

South Africa's constitutional court revived on Friday impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over a scandal dubbed "Farmgate" by ‌local media, saying parliament had acted unlawfully by blocking the process in 2022. The scandal centred on allegations made by a former intelligence official that Ramaphosa tried to cover up the theft of ‌about $4 million in foreign currency stashed in furniture at his Phala Phala game farm ‌in 2020.

Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman before he became president in 2018, admitted there had been a break-in but said the thieves only stole $580,000, which he said were proceeds from the sale of buffaloes. He denied wrongdoing and ⁠was ​never charged with ⁠a crime, but an independent panel found evidence he may have committed misconduct.

In its ruling on Friday, the constitutional ⁠court said a December 2022 vote in parliament that blocked the panel's report from being referred to ​an impeachment committee was inconsistent with the constitution and set aside. It ordered that the ⁠report should be referred to an impeachment committee.

The legal challenge was brought to the country's highest court in 2024 ⁠by ​the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who were later joined by a smaller opposition party in the case. Ramaphosa's African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in an election ⁠in 2024 and now governs as part of a broad coalition with other parties.

After the ⁠court's ruling, the ⁠ANC's main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said in a statement that it would participate fully in the impeachment committee and not prejudge its ‌outcome.