"South Africa's Constitutional Court on Friday ordered the country's Parliament to reconsider impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa. The ruling stems from an allegation that $580,000 in US banknotes, hidden in a couch, was stolen from Ramaphosa's private Phala Phala game farm in 2020. The court did not rule on the substance of the allegations. Instead, it examined whether lawmakers acted lawfully in rejecting a recommendation from an independent panel appointed by Parliament to proceed with an impeachment inquiry into claims that Ramaphosa broke the law in his handling of the theft."
""It is declared that the vote of the National Assembly taken on 13 December 2022... is inconsistent with the Constitution, invalid, and it is set aside," Chief Justice Mandisa Maya said. The legal challenge was launched by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM), two opposition parties, who contend that Parliament's decision to dismiss the panel's findings was irrational and unconstitutional."
"The finding is a significant setback for the president, who has faced persistent allegations that he sought to conceal the theft to avoid scrutiny over the large amount of foreign currency kept as his property. It was first brought to light in June 2022, when a former South African spy boss, Arthur Fraser, accused the president of hiding the theft at his farm in Limpopo province. Ramaphosa has always denied wrongdoing over the affair and has not been charged with any crime."
"He said the money was payment for buffalos bought by a Sudanese businessman. The president was also cleared in separate investigations by the Reserve Bank and an independent watchdog, the Public Protector. The controversy around the theft has been dubbed "Farmgate, by South African mediaImage: AP Photo/picture alliance A test for Ramapahosa's coalition government In 2022, parliament instructed a panel headed by South Africa's former c"
South Africa’s Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to reconsider impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa. The order followed a challenge to how lawmakers handled an independent panel’s recommendation to proceed with an impeachment inquiry. The court did not decide whether allegations about the alleged theft of $580,000 in US banknotes from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm were true. Instead, it focused on whether the National Assembly acted lawfully when it rejected the panel’s findings. The court declared the vote taken on 13 December 2022 inconsistent with the Constitution and set it aside. The case was brought by opposition parties alleging the dismissal was irrational and unconstitutional.
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