By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has filed an urgent application before a High Court, seeking to stop the parliament from commencing an impeachment probe, in connection with his “Farmgate” scandal.
A court paper on Friday shows that Ramaphosa wants the court to first make a decision on a separate application he made, in which he asked the court to set aside an independent panel, which indicted him over the scandal, in which bundles of cash were stolen from a sofa on his farm in 2020.
Ramaphosa insists that the $580,000 stolen cash were proceeds from the sale of buffaloes produced in his farm, but the episode raised questions about why the money was hidden in furniture and not warehoused in the bank, and whether he had declared it. The President has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
South Africa’s constitutional court revived impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa last month, holding that a parliamentary vote to stop the process in 2022 was invalid.
The high court is due to hear the case indicting him of misconduct from September 2 to 4.
Ramaphosa, 73, has been head of state since 2018 and his second presidential term is due to end in 2029.
Farmgate has been a major embarrassment for him as he came to power on a pledge to fight corruption and clean up the image of his African National Congress (ANC) party.
But political analysts expect him to survive if the impeachment process goes to a vote in parliament.
