Ramaphosa wins a major victory in impeachment battle

A South African court halted a parliamentary inquiry into whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should be impeached over his handling of a robbery at his wildlife ranch.

Parliament is “interdicted from proceeding with the public impeachment hearings,” Judge Andre Le Grange of the Western Cape High Court said on Friday. 

The ruling buys Ramaphosa time as he awaits the outcome of a separate bid seeking to overturn a judicial panel’s finding.

The panel found that his handling of the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden in a couch at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo province was unlawful. The High Court is scheduled to hear the case from Sept. 2 to 4.

Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Ramaphosa previously threatened to resign from his position over the scandal, but was convinced to stay on by senior members of his party, the African National Congress, which held the majority in parliament at the time.

The party no longer holds the most seats in the legislature but could still block the president’s impeachment, which would require the backing of two-thirds of lawmakers.

The impeachment proceedings were revived in May when the nation’s top court found that lawmakers erred four years ago when they failed to establish a committee to look into the theft.