South Africa to establish impeachment committee after president's cash scandal is revived

(AP) — The South African Parliament said Monday it will establish an impeachment committee to reinvestigate four-year-old allegations that President Cyril Ramaphosa committed serious misconduct by hiding the theft of more than half a million United States dollars in cash, which had been stashed in a sofa at his game ranch.

The new decision follows a ruling by the top Constitutional Court on Friday saying a 2022 Parliament vote that blocked impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa over the scandal was unconstitutional.

At the time of the vote, Ramaphosa's African National Congress party had a majority in Parliament. The vote was held despite an independent report finding evidence of wrongdoing by the president in allegedly not properly reporting the theft to police and trying to keep an investigation to recover the money secret.

The Constitutional Court last week said that, according to procedure, the 2022 independent report should have been referred to an impeachment committee for further investigation.

Impeaching the leader of Africa's top economy would require the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers in the 400-member Parliament, according to the Constitution.

The multi-party impeachment committee still needs to conduct an investigation before any move to hold an impeachment vote. No time frame was given for that in Monday's Parliament statement.

Ramaphosa's ANC party lost its Parliament majority in a landmark 2024 election and is now the largest in a coalition government of 10 parties. He still could survive an impeachment vote if his party's lawmakers back him.

The scandal badly damaged the reputation of a president who took office in 2018 on an anti-corruption ticket after a decade of government graft scandals under former leader Jacob Zuma.

The allegations against Ramaphosa were first made by a former head of South Africa's state security agency, who walked into a police station in 2022 and accused the president of money laundering and other offenses over the money. It emerged the theft happened in 2020 and had been kept secret.

Ramaphosa denied wrongdoing and said the money — in US dollars — came from the legitimate sale of buffaloes on his ranch. However, questions arose over the source of the money and why it was hidden in a sofa.

The 2022 independent report said there was “legitimate doubt” over the source of the money, and some evidence that the amount was more than the US$580,000 Ramaphosa claimed. It also said Ramaphosa had used the head of his presidential protection unit and others to “surreptitiously” try and track down the suspects.

“President Ramaphosa maintains that no person is above the law and that any allegations should be subjected to due process without fear, favor or prejudice,” Ramaphosa's office said Friday following the court ruling that revived the scandal.

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