ANC convenes emergency meeting after court revives Ramaphosa impeachment case

South Africa’s governing party has been dragged back into its most damaging internal fight, after the Constitutional Court revived impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa and forced the ANC to confront the political cost of a scandal it has tried to contain for years.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula called a special National Executive Committee meeting for Tuesday evening in Cape Town to brief senior leaders on the ruling and its implications for the party and government. The urgency underscored how quickly the case has shifted from a legal dispute into a test of Ramaphosa’s authority inside his own movement.

The court ruled on 8 May that the National Assembly’s 13 December 2022 vote blocking the impeachment process was unconstitutional and invalid. That vote had previously stopped the creation of an impeachment committee that would have probed whether Ramaphosa had properly declared a large amount of cash linked to the Phala Phala farm controversy. The Speaker-appointed independent panel had already gone far enough on 30 November 2022 to conclude that the information before it prima facie suggested the president may have committed serious violations of the Constitution and law, as well as serious misconduct.

The case was brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters and the African Transformation Movement, with Ramaphosa, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the National Assembly and the ANC among the respondents. Parliament said the Speaker would now begin the process of setting up the impeachment committee ordered by the court, moving the dispute from political brinkmanship into formal parliamentary procedure. The National Assembly Rules cited in the matter, including rules 129A to 129Q, govern removal from office.

At the heart of the scandal remains Ramaphosa’s explanation that the money came from the sale of buffaloes. The allegation has refused to fade because it cuts directly to questions of honesty, disclosure and presidential accountability, all while the ANC tries to present itself as a disciplined governing party.

The revived case may still be a legal headache more than an immediate threat to Ramaphosa’s presidency. The impeachment process is expected to be lengthy and is widely seen as unlikely to unseat him. But the ruling has renewed speculation over whether he will finish his term or be forced out before 2029, and it has reopened factional strains inside the ANC at a moment when the party can least afford another round of internal division.