South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has won a bid to temporarily halt an impeachment inquiry into the "Farmgate" scandal. The Western Cape high court ruled on Friday that a parliamentary committee cannot proceed with its hearings "pending the determination by this court of the applicant's review," referring to Ramaphosa's legal challenge against the panel.
The ruling, which was a majority decision by three judges, grants Ramaphosa more time to address the allegations stemming from a 2020 robbery at his private farm in Phala Phala. His legal team had argued that allowing the impeachment proceedings to continue before his separate case was resolved could cause him irreparable reputational harm.
The scandal involves the alleged theft of $580,000 in U.S. dollar bills from a sofa at Ramaphosa's farm. Details of the robbery emerged in 2022 when former spy chief Arthur Fraser filed a criminal complaint, accusing the president of concealing the theft from authorities. The stolen cash, being in foreign currency, also raised questions about potential contraventions of exchange control laws.
Ramaphosa has maintained that the money originated from the sale of buffaloes. Following Friday's court decision, the president issued a statement indicating he "respects" the ruling.