South Africa’s Constitutional Court Rules Parliament’s 2022 Impeachment Block Unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court ruled that parliament’s 2022 decision to block an impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa was unconstitutional.

On 13 December 2022 the National Assembly voted to stop the impeachment process after an independent panel recommended an inquiry into the theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s farmhouse. The court’s chief justice said that vote was inconsistent with the constitution, invalid, and set it aside. The judgment ordered that the panel’s report be referred to an impeachment committee for further review. The case was brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters and the African Transformation Movement. Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing, stating the money came from the sale of buffalo at his farm. The African National Congress, which lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 election, still holds more than one‑third of the seats in the National Assembly.

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The court’s decision is based on a direct reading of the constitution and the procedural rules governing impeachment. By nullifying the 2022 vote, the court restored the legal pathway for an inquiry that had been stalled for two years. The ruling does not guarantee removal; a two‑thirds majority in the National Assembly is still required to impeach the president. Given the ANC’s current seat share, achieving that threshold remains unlikely, but the inquiry can now gather evidence and produce a formal recommendation. Observers should watch the impeachment committee’s deliberations over the coming months and any subsequent parliamentary vote.