ANC dumps Cyril Ramaphosa

The African National Congress (ANC) has abandoned its legal bid to participate as a respondent in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s legal case.

This is significant because it reverses the ANC’s initial decision to align itself with the President’s personal legal battle.

The debacle started in 2020, when criminals stole $580,000 hidden inside a couch at Ramaphosa’s private Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.

On 1 June 2022, former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, lodged a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa for defeating the ends of justice.

He argued that the President had committed breaches of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004.

This spilled over into a political battle, and in 2022, a Section 89 Independent Panel looked at the Phala Phala issue.

It concluded there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct and violated the Constitution.

However, the matter stalled in December 2022 when the National Assembly voted against adopting the panel’s findings.

The EFF and ATM challenged that parliamentary vote, and the Constitutional Court issued a landmark ruling.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament acted unconstitutionally in 2022 when it voted to reject the independent report.

The court ordered that the Section 89 report be referred directly to an impeachment committee to determine if the President should be removed from office.

Following this order, President Ramaphosa launched an urgent legal bid in the Western Cape High Court to halt the parliamentary impeachment process.

Ramaphosa is seeking an order to review and set aside the original 2022 independent panel report, arguing that it misunderstood its mandate.

He also argues that the panel failed to exclude hearsay and improperly relied on Fraser’s allegations. Ramaphosa denies all accusations, saying he did nothing wrong.

The ANC withdraws support for Ramaphosa’s case

This week, Sunday World reported the ANC formally withdrew its notice to intervene as a respondent in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s court challenge.

“Kindly take notice that the African National Congress hereby withdraws its Notice to Intervene as a Respondent dated June 19, 2026,” it said.

Simply put, the ANC stepped back its support for Ramaphosa in this case, which is uncommon as the party typically joins such cases to support its leadership.

Political analysts argue that the ANC realised that intervening in the case risked exposing deep-seated internal party fractures over the Phala Phala saga.

Political commentator Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh argued that this leaves Ramaphosa legally isolated and ‘out on his own’.

Without the ANC’s support, Ramaphosa faces a major symbolic and strategic defeat at the hands of opposition parties.

EFF leader Julius Malema argued the ANC was poorly advised to get involved in the first place, calling it Ramaphosa’s personal matter.

However, this does not mean that Ramaphosa does not enjoy the ANC’s support. Many in the party still back and protect the President.

National Assembly Speaker and ANC stalwart, Thoko Didiza, chose not to oppose the President’s urgent court bid.

The ANC National Working Committee (NWC) has publicly thrown its weight behind Didiza’s decision.

Conversely, the Parliament’s Impeachment Committee has resolved to move forward and potentially oppose the President’s interdict to protect its constitutional mandate.

Opposition parties, particularly the EFF and ATM, have accused the ANC of using legal and bureaucratic manoeuvres to protect the President.

The ANC’s formal withdrawal from Ramaphosa’s legal intervention removes one layer of direct party obstruction in the court proceedings.