South African opposition leader Julius Malema has called for impeachment proceedings to be brought against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He was responding on Friday to a ruling by the South African Constitutional Court, which had declared an earlier decision by Parliament not to initiate such proceedings against Ramaphosa to be unconstitutional.
Malema’s party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, had challenged this decision in court in 2024. Following the court ruling, Malema has now also called on Ramaphosa to resign.
The case stems from allegations that about $500,000 in cash was stolen from Ramaphosa’s private farm.
In 2022, an independent panel had found evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed misconduct by failing to report the theft of the money hidden in a sofa. Opposition parties accused him of failing to disclose the origin of the money.
Parliament, dominated at the time by Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC), voted against initiating impeachment proceedings in 2022. Since then, however, the ANC has lost its parliamentary majority.
Ramaphosa's office said in a statement that he "respects the Constitutional Court’s judgment and reaffirms his commitment to the Constitution, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law."
"President Ramaphosa maintains that no person is above the law and that any allegations should be subjected to due process without fear, favour or prejudice," the statement said.
