South Africa's top court revives Ramaphosa impeachment, opposition demands resignation
South Africa's Constitutional Court has ruled that the impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa must be reopened. The judges found parliament's earlier decision to halt the probe — over a 2020 farmhouse foreign-currency scandal — unconstitutional.
In a unanimous ruling, the Constitutional Court found that the National Assembly's 2023 decision to drop the impeachment probe of Ramaphosa was 'irregular and unconstitutional'. The judgment requires parliament to restart the inquiry within 30 days.
The scandal centres on roughly 580,000 dollars in foreign currency allegedly stolen from Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020. The president said the money was payment for cattle purchased by a Sudanese businessman, but the transaction was never logged with the South African Reserve Bank.
The Democratic Alliance and EFF leader Julius Malema demanded Ramaphosa's resignation; an ANC faction continues to defend him. The rand fell 1.2% against the dollar in Johannesburg trade, while the JSE All Share index dropped 0.7%.
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