Constitutional Court Orders Parliament to Restart Ramaphosa Impeachment Inquiry

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged to challenge a decision by the country’s top court reviving an impeachment inquiry against him. In a late-night televised announcement on May 12, 2026, Ramaphosa said he would take the panel report to court, repeating his long-held stance that he disagreed with its reasoning. The Constitutional Court ruling occurred in the days before May 12, 2026.

Last week before that date, the court ruled that parliament’s vote to stop the impeachment process was unlawful and ordered parliament to restart the inquiry. South Africa’s Constitutional Court ordered lawmakers to restart scrutiny of an impeachment inquiry against President Cyril Ramaphosa. Parliament had already outlined steps to set up an impeachment committee to probe him further.

Ramaphosa’s lawyers are expected to argue that lawmakers cannot move ahead with impeachment if the report is under legal challenge. They may also ask the courts to temporarily block the legislature from acting until the review is complete. The Phala Phala incident became public in 2022 after a former intelligence chief accused Ramaphosa of trying to cover it up.

In response, parliament set up a panel led by a retired chief justice. The panel found that Ramaphosa’s farming business exposed him to a conflict of interest, that he may have broken anti-graft laws by failing to report the crime, and that he abused state resources with off-the-books investigations. Parliament had halted scrutiny after binning that report.

The legislature, dominated by the African National Congress, voted to stop the impeachment process. Semafor reported that the Constitutional Court determined this vote was unlawful. President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that he disagreed with the panel report’s reasoning.