A South African court docket dominated on Friday in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bid to pause impeachment proceedings towards him over a scandal involving half-a-million {dollars} stashed in a settee at his ranch.
Ramaphosa requested the Western Cape Excessive Courtroom to cease the work of a parliamentary impeachment committee till his evaluation of a November 2022 report that discovered he “could have dedicated” critical violations and misconduct.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing and dominated out resigning over the incident for the reason that allegedly undeclared stash of overseas foreign money got here to gentle after it was reported stolen in 2020.
“Pending the willpower by this court docket of the applicant’s evaluation… respondents are interdicted from continuing with a public impeachment listening to,” Decide Andre le Grange introduced.
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Ramaphosa is accused of hiding from police and tax authorities a 2020 break-in and theft of $580,000 at his luxurious Phala Phala farmhouse within the northern Limpopo province.
He says he reported the break-in to the police and that the cash got here from the sale of 20 buffaloes.
The grievance towards him was laid by a former spy boss and one-time ally of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who claimed Ramaphosa hid a theft of $4 million from police and tax authorities.
After criticism from opposition events that he was avoiding accountability, Ramaphosa mentioned after the court docket resolution Friday he “reaffirms his respect of judicial independence and separation of powers enshrined in our Structure.”
“The President will proceed to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability,” a press release mentioned.
Ought to the impeachment proceedings go forward, they might be the primary for a sitting South African president.
The court docket will in September hear Ramaphosa’s bid to overturn the 2022 unbiased panel report that discovered he could have a case to reply.
It was rejected in a vote within the Nationwide Meeting, the place Ramaphosa’s ruling African Nationwide Congress held a majority, quashing the opening of impeachment proceedings at the moment.
The general public prosecutor dropped the costs in 2024. Nonetheless, the Constitutional Courtroom overturned the parliament vote in Might this yr, resulting in the institution of the parliamentary impeachment committee.