South Africa’s Ramaphosa gets party backing over ‘Farmgate’ scandal

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has secured the backing of his party’s top decision-making body over a scandal triggered by the theft of bundles of cash in foreign currency hidden in a sofa on his ranch, SABC reported.

The reported endorsement from the African National Congress party’s National Executive Committee over the “Farmgate” scandal offered Ramaphosa a potential lifeline as he fights calls to resign.

An ANC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report by the public broadcaster, which did not give more details on the support it said was made at a meeting on Wednesday.

Ramaphosa said on Monday he respected a constitutional court ruling that revived impeachment proceedings against him over the scandal, and pledged to defend himself.

South Africa’s head of state since 2018 has always denied wrongdoing over Farmgate, which raised questions about how he acquired the $580,000 in cash that he said was stolen from his farm in 2020, whether it was properly declared, and why it was stashed in furniture rather than deposited in a bank.

The ANC postponed a briefing on the outcomes of the National Executive Committee meeting from Thursday to Friday.

The party blocked impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa over Farmgate in 2022. But the constitutional court revived the process last week, saying a parliamentary impeachment committee should be set up to carry out more investigations.

On Wednesday, the speaker of the National Assembly said the impeachment committee would have 31 members from the 16 political parties in the lower house of parliament.

The ANC will have the most members, nine, followed by its main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance, with five.

Political analysts say Ramaphosa will likely survive if the impeachment process goes to a vote in parliament. It would need a two-thirds majority to pass, and the ANC has roughly 40% of the seats in the lower house.