High Court Hears President’s Bid to Halt Impeachment Proceedings Over Phala Phala Report

The Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town concluded two days of arguments on 16 July 2026 in President Cyril Ramaphosa's urgent application for an interdict to stop impeachment committee proceedings. AllAfrica reported that Ramaphosa seeks to pause the process pending a review of the Section 89 independent panel report.

Advocate Wim Trengove, representing Ramaphosa, told the court that the inquiry would subject the president to public spectacle on the basis of a flawed report and cause significant humiliation along with irreparable harm to his reputation.

The panel, chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, had found that Ramaphosa had a case to answer over the theft of $580,000 in cash hidden in a sofa at his Phala Phala game farm. In May the Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to refer the report to an impeachment committee, clearing the way for proceedings.

Ramaphosa then filed a review application, and the High Court is now weighing whether to grant the interdict that would halt the committee's work while that review proceeds.

AllAfrica reported the case concerns Ramaphosa's conduct in the Phala Phala matter.