South Africa's Ramaphosa faces down calls to resign over cash-in-sofa scandal

JOHANNESBURG, May 11 - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faced down calls to resign on Monday over a scandal in which thieves stole bundles of cash in foreign currency hidden in a sofa on his ranch.

In a televised address to the nation, Ramaphosa said he respected a constitutional court ruling that revived impeachment proceedings against him last week but pledged to defend himself.

"While there have been calls in some circles that I should resign, nothing in the Constitutional Court judgment compels me to resign my office," Ramaphosa said.

The scandal, dubbed "Farmgate" by local media, has been a major embarrassment for Ramaphosa since it broke in 2022, as he came to power on a pledge to fight corruption and clean up the image of his party, the African National Congress.

Political analysts said they expected Ramaphosa would try to fight misconduct allegations against him but faced rising pressure before municipal elections in November, in which his party had already been expected to perform poorly.

"The timing couldn't really be worse ... from an ANC perspective," said independent political analyst Daniel Silke.

The ANC has called a special meeting of its National Executive Committee for Tuesday to discuss what it should do.

CASH STASHED IN RANCH FURNITURE

In 2022, the ANC blocked the impeachment process through a vote in parliament, but the Constitutional Court said on Friday that the vote was invalid and allegations related to the theft should be probed further.

Ramaphosa, who has been head of state since 2018, has always denied wrongdoing.

He said the thieves had stolen $580,000 from the sofa on his Phala Phala game farm in 2020, though a former intelligence official said the amount stolen was at least $4 million.

The theft raised questions about how Ramaphosa could have acquired so much cash, whether he declared it and why he stuffed it into furniture instead of depositing it at a bank.

Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman before he became president, has said the money represented proceeds from the sale of buffaloes. A central bank investigation found he had not contravened exchange control regulations.

RAMAPHOSA WOULD PROBABLY SURVIVE IMPEACHMENT VOTE

Analysts say there is still a long way to go in the impeachment process and Ramaphosa would likely survive if it went to a vote in parliament.

An impeachment vote requires a two-thirds majority to pass and, even though the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in a 2024 election, it still has about 40% of the seats in the National Assembly.

Former president Jacob Zuma's political party, uMkhonto weSizwe, wrote to the National Assembly speaker over the weekend asking her to schedule a vote of no-confidence in Ramaphosa.

The speaker has not yet publicly responded.

Analysts say a no-confidence motion, which would require a simple majority to pass, is also unlikely to succeed as Ramaphosa would probably be backed by most ANC lawmakers and key coalition partners such as the Democratic Alliance. REUTERS