President Cyril Ramaphosa has been accused of undermining his own anti-corruption promises after he filed an urgent court application to stop impeachment proceedings against him.
Activists and Citizens Forum spokesperson Dennis Bloem said Ramaphosa's decision to seek an interdict contradicts his pledges to fight corruption. "The question is why does President Ramaphosa want to stop the impeachment committee from proceeding with its work? What is it that he wants to hide?" Bloem said.
Ramaphosa on Friday filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court. He argues that the impeachment committee shouldn't start its work until a separate court challenge about the Section 89 Independent Panel report is resolved.
The report found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious violations of the Constitution and anti-corruption laws regarding the 2020 theft at his Phala Phala farm. Ramaphosa says allowing the inquiry to proceed based on a report with disputed legal validity would cause irreparable political and reputational harm.
He also argues that under National Assembly rules, he has a right not to face impeachment unless preceded by a lawful and valid independent report. Ramaphosa has filed papers seeking to review, declare unlawful, and set aside the panel report. The hearing is scheduled for September 2 to 4.
This urgent filing follows a recent Constitutional Court ruling that found Parliament's 2022 vote to block the inquiry was unlawful. That ruling forced the National Assembly to establish a 31-member impeachment committee.
Ramaphosa made fighting corruption and ending the "state capture" era a cornerstone of his political platform when he rose to ANC leadership in 2017 and ahead of the 2019 elections. He repeatedly vowed to dismantle state capture networks, clean up state-owned enterprises, and hold corrupt officials accountable.
"His decision to run to court and apply for an interdict to halt the impeachment process in Parliament is in direct contradiction with those promises," Bloem said. "This is the very same person who promised the people of the country that he will fight corruption with everything in his power."
Bloem noted that Ramaphosa even coined the "Thuma Mina" speech he delivered after his election as President, which called for active citizen participation to cure the country of corruption and state capture.
Political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast said Ramaphosa's conduct contradicts his promise of transparency and good governance. "I don't think he initiated that legal action in good faith. That report was handed over to Parliament in 2022 and he didn't take legal action against that report? He knew he was going to get political backing. He knew there were political dynamics around this matter and thought the matter would die a natural death," Breakfast said.
Another political analyst, Professor Andre Duvenhage, said there are grounds to argue that Ramaphosa is following a "Stalingrad" strategy — a legal tactic of using multiple court challenges to delay proceedings. Duvenhage added that Ramaphosa may be undermining the oversight function of the legislature.
The EFF and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) have indicated they will oppose Ramaphosa's application. The EFF says the Constitutional Court ruling unequivocally mandated Parliament to establish an impeachment committee, and a pending review doesn't automatically suspend parliamentary procedures.
The ATM labelled Ramaphosa's application a delaying tactic and has asked the High Court to hear the matter on an expedited basis during the week of June 22, 2026, to avoid stalling the accountability process.
Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya didn't respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.