South Africa's parliament has announced it will establish an impeachment committee to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa over the so-called 'Farmgate' scandal, following a court order.
The lower house of parliament stated on Monday that the speaker will set up the body to probe allegations against the president. The move was mandated by the country's Constitutional Court last week, which revived impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa.
The Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that parliament's decision four years ago to block an inquiry into the scandal was inconsistent with the constitution. The impeachment committee will review evidence concerning a large sum of foreign currency allegedly hidden in a sofa at a farm owned by Ramaphosa, before deciding whether to recommend formal proceedings.
The scandal centers on the 2020 theft of $4 million in cash that was stuffed in a sofa on Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm. Questions have arisen about how the president, who came to power on an anti-corruption platform, acquired the money, whether he declared it, and why it was hidden in furniture rather than in a bank. Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing.
Last week, Ramaphosa said he respected the court's judgment to revive impeachment proceedings. However, in a national address on Monday evening, he stated he would not resign and plans to legally challenge an independent panel's report that found preliminary evidence of misconduct.
Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) has called a meeting of its National Executive Committee for Tuesday to discuss the scandal, a party spokesperson said. The case was brought by opposition parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African Transformation Movement (ATM), which have called for Ramaphosa's resignation.
Even if the impeachment committee's findings are negative, the president would likely survive a vote in the lower house, where a two-thirds majority is required to remove him. The ANC retains more than one-third of the seats in the National Assembly, despite losing its majority in 2024.
Source: www.aljazeera.com