Ramaphosa prepares for battle

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is preparing to mount a two-pronged legal challenge to block an impeachment hearing into an alleged cover-up of a burglary at his game farm.

Ramaphosa’s lawyers are finalising the applications after the nation’s top court last week revived an investigation into whether his handling of the theft of foreign exchange from the wildlife ranch in 2020 breached the constitution, according to people familiar with the matter.

The inquiry threatens to reopen a politically damaging scandal months before the country holds local elections.

The president will in the coming days seek a judicial review of an independent panel’s report that suggested he may have broken the law, said the people who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Should parliament forge ahead with proceedings using what Ramaphosa argues is a flawed report, that request would be accompanied by an application to halt the impeachment process, the people said.

Ramaphosa’s lawyer declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.

The legal challenge will test whether Ramaphosa can contain a scandal that’s posed the biggest risk to his presidency since he came to power eight years ago.

The president in 2022 considered resigning over the panel’s findings, and his departure three years before the end of his term would raise questions about policy continuity in Africa’s biggest economy.

The 73-year-old leader has championed reforms that have boosted confidence among investors who penalized the nation’s assets for years over government mismanagement and corruption under his predecessor.

Part of the optimism stems from the centrist multiparty coalition government he forged in 2024 that’s prioritised growing the economy and safeguarding the constitution.

The legal developments come at a politically sensitive moment for Ramaphosa and his African National Congress — the country’s biggest political party — as the nation prepares for local elections on 4 November.

The ANC lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 for the first time since it came to power at the end of apartheid three decades earlier, and it’s expected to lose even more support in this year’s vote.

The report that Ramaphosa wants reviewed was written by an independent panel that was appointed by parliament in 2022.

It found there may be grounds to conclude that Ramaphosa violated of the constitution and his oath of office over the theft of about $580,000 from the game farm.

Ramaphosa previously abandoned plans to seek a review of the panel’s conclusions when parliament voted against adopting the report, rendering the panel’s findings moot.

The Constitutional Court on May 8 found that the rule used by parliament to effectively shield Ramaphosa was unconstitutional, triggering the president’s renewed effort to have it set aside.

As Ramaphosa’s legal challenge takes shape, parliament has begun implementing parts of last week’s court ruling, including steps to amend National Assembly rules and establish a 31-member impeachment committee.

Ramaphosa, who also serves as ANC president, skipped a meeting of the party’s decision-making National Executive Committee in Cape Town on Wednesday.

The body backed his decision to challenge the panel’s report and remain in office — a decision that’s expected to be confirmed at an ANC media briefing scheduled for Friday.