South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has secured a temporary legal victory after a court stopped Parliament from moving ahead with an impeachment inquiry linked to the long-running Farmgate scandal, giving him more time to challenge findings that placed his conduct under scrutiny.
The ruling, delivered on Friday by the Western Cape High Court, prevents the parliamentary committee from continuing with impeachment proceedings until a separate court case filed by Ramaphosa against an independent panel is heard and determined.
The latest decision follows a Constitutional Court ruling in May that found Parliament had acted unlawfully when it decided not to establish an impeachment inquiry after an independent panel concluded in 2022 that Ramaphosa might have a case to answer over the Farmgate matter.
Ramaphosa has since challenged the panel's findings and is expected to have that case heard in September.
The Constitutional Court's decision had reopened the path for Parliament to revive the impeachment process, at a time when the political landscape has changed following the 2024 general election. Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) no longer commands a parliamentary majority and now governs through a coalition.
After the Constitutional Court ruling, the president filed a legal challenge, arguing that the panel had "misconceived its mandate, misjudged the information placed before it and misinterpreted the four charges advanced against me".
In Friday's judgment, Western Cape High Court Judge Andre le Grange ordered that the parliamentary committee should not proceed with its hearings "pending the determination by this court of the applicant's review" - referring to Ramaphosa's challenge against the panel's report.
The ruling gives the president more time as he seeks to overturn the panel's findings before Parliament can resume any impeachment process.
During the hearing, Ramaphosa's legal team argued that allowing the parliamentary inquiry to continue before the review case is concluded could cause him irreparable reputational harm.
Three judges heard the application, with two ruling in the president's favour. The majority decision means the impeachment proceedings will remain on hold until the review case is concluded.
The Farmgate controversy dates back to a burglary at Ramaphosa's private Phala Phala farm in Limpopo province in 2020.
During the break-in, thieves allegedly stole about $580,000 in US dollar bills that had been hidden inside a sofa.
The incident only became public two years later after former South African spy chief Arthur Fraser submitted a dossier to police detailing the alleged theft.
Fraser, an ally of former President Jacob Zuma, accused Ramaphosa of concealing the robbery from police and tax authorities. Because the stolen money was in foreign currency, questions were also raised over whether exchange control laws had been breached.
Ramaphosa has maintained that the cash came from the sale of buffaloes and has denied any wrongdoing.
Following Friday's ruling, the president released a statement saying he noted and "respects" the court's decision.