ConCourt dismisses bid to revive Ramaphosa impeachment inquiry

South Africa's Constitutional Court has dismissed an urgent application by several political parties seeking to revive the impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa, ruling that the matter should be resolved in a lower court first. The decision, handed down on August 12, 2026, means the impeachment committee's public hearings remain halted pending the outcome of a separate review application.

The court declined to grant direct access and dismissed applications for leave to appeal from the African Transformation Movement (ATM), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, and United Africans Transformation. In its order, the Constitutional Court stated it was not in the interests of justice to hear the matter at this stage, given the imminent determination of a review application in the Western Cape High Court. The court noted that the outcome of that review would render the interim interdict against the committee moot.

The legal battle stems from a Section 89 independent panel report which concluded that Ramaphosa had questions to answer regarding the theft of approximately 580,000 U.S. dollars, valued at about 9.6 million rand, from his Phala...