Africa-Press. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has obtained a temporary court order halting the parliamentary impeachment proceedings against him, following allegations of misconduct related to the theft of funds from his private farm, known in the media as “Farmgate.”
The Western Cape High Court issued a temporary injunction preventing the parliamentary impeachment committee from continuing its proceedings until a separate lawsuit filed by Ramaphosa challenging the findings of an independent committee, which concluded that there was a case warranting his accountability, is resolved. The ruling does not represent a final end to the impeachment process or a judgment of the president’s innocence regarding the allegations.
The case dates back to February 2020, when $580,000 in cash was stolen from a couch at Ramaphosa’s “Phala Phala” farm in Limpopo province. Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling, Parliament announced the names of the impeachment committee members, which included representatives from the African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance, the Economic Freedom Fighters, and other parties.
The committee was supposed to investigate the facts, hear evidence, and then submit its recommendations to the National Assembly. South African constitutional rules allow for the president’s impeachment in cases of serious violations of the constitution or law, serious misconduct, or incapacity to perform his duties. If the committee recommends impeachment, a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly is required to pass the decision.
Analysts believe that impeachment remains unlikely even if proceedings resume, as the cohesion of party members behind him is sufficient to prevent the opposition from achieving the necessary two-thirds majority, regardless of the stance of some coalition partners. Thus, the future of the parliamentary process hangs in the balance, depending on the outcome of Ramaphosa’s lawsuit against the independent committee’s report, while the temporary ruling does not preclude the possibility of resuming impeachment proceedings later if the court rejects his appeal.
Resignation of Deputy Finance Minister
In a separate development, South Africa’s Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo announced his resignation from the chairmanship of the Public Investment Corporation, the largest government asset manager in the country and one of the largest investment managers on the continent, amid increasing scrutiny of the corporation’s management and leadership.
Masondo stated in a statement released on Thursday that he made the decision to resign “after careful consideration,” without providing detailed reasons or directly linking his decision to the ongoing investigations within the corporation. The resignation pertains to his role as chairman of the board, not his position as Deputy Finance Minister.
The Public Investment Corporation, commonly known as “PIC,” manages assets exceeding 3 trillion rand, approximately $178 billion, with the government employees’ pension fund being its largest client. The corporation is also classified as the largest single investor on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Masondo’s resignation comes at a time when the corporation faces increasing pressure, following the precautionary suspension of its CEO, Patrick Dlamini, amid allegations of misconduct raised in a whistleblower complaint.
The resignation of the corporation’s board chairman creates an additional leadership vacuum, coinciding with the suspension of its CEO and regulatory investigations, increasing pressure on it to restore confidence and ensure the protection of the retirement and government employee funds it manages.
