The Phala Phala impeachment ghost is back to haunt President Cyril Ramaphosa, with Parliament’s Section 89 committee set to reconvene on Thursday as the ATM ramps up its push to force accountability over the farmgate scandal.
The meeting comes as ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula has escalated his offensive on reviving the Phala Phala impeachment bid against President Cyril Ramaphosa and formally demanding a full-blown probe into the alleged “jobs-for-votes” scandal rocking Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
On Thursday, the Section 89 committee is expected to receive a briefing from Constitutional and Legal Services on the appointment of an Evidence Leader and on ongoing litigation before the committee, after two court applications were lodged challenging its earlier decision.
The committee is facing legal action from the EFF and the African Legal Professionals Association (ALPA), both seeking to review and set aside its decision of 1 September 2026 rescinding the recommendation of Adv Thuli Madonsela SC as Evidence Leader.
The committee has resolved to oppose both applications, with 19 members voting to fight the matters and nine voting to abide.
The meeting on Thursday will also finalise draft Terms of Reference, including proposals around procedural fairness, evidence standards, and the independence of the committee from findings of other institutions.
At the centre of the renewed push is Zungula, who tabled the original Section 89 motion against Ramaphosa, alleging serious violations of the Constitution and the law over concealed foreign currency and alleged unlawful instructions to the head of VIP protection.
Zungula insists the fight is not personal but constitutional.
“Some ANC members in Parliament have urged us to continue pursuing accountability in the Phala Phala matter. People across different sectors and political parties believe there cannot be one set of laws for some while, in Ramaphosa’s case, holding him accountable is treated as a crime,” he said.
He said the ATM was simply doing its job.
“If you look at how he is being held accountable on Phala Phala, even some analysts and civil society portray the ATM as if there is some obsession. It’s as if we’re not doing our job. We are members of Parliament; it is our duty and obligation. We took an oath to do what we are doing now. If we don’t do it, then we are failing the people,” Zungula said.
Ramaphosa has consistently maintained he broke no law and is willing to subject himself to any investigation.
Zungula argued that if the President was confident he acted lawfully and in good faith, he should not fight a process that could clear his name.
“If the President has always maintained that he acted lawfully, in good faith and in accordance with the law, he should not be fighting a process that could clear his name. This suggests there is more to the Phala Phala ordeal than is publicly known,” he said.
He warned that the Western Cape High Court ruling, which effectively paused Parliament’s public impeachment hearings, would set a dangerous precedent.
“Can you imagine a mayor doing the same thing, a premier doing the same thing, an MEC or a minister doing the same thing? There have even been ANC members coming to us saying ‘please push for this’, because if you don’t push for accountability on this issue, it’s going to send the country into a downward spiral. It would mean every public office-bearer can use the law and legal loopholes to avoid being held accountable,” Zungula said.
While pushing on Phala Phala, the ATM has now opened a second front in the Eastern Cape after state vehicles were seen at an ANC campaign trail where Water and Sanitatiin minister Pemmy Mojodinawas in attendence.
On Sunday, the party formally submitted a request to the Office of the Speaker of Buffalo City Council for an urgent investigation into the alleged “jobs-for-votes” scandal, implicating Executive Mayor Princess Faku and other officials.
In a letter seen by Africa Daily, ATM national spokesperson Zama Ntshona said the submission calls for an investigation into the alleged use of municipal vehicles and public resources for party-political purposes.
“The submission was formally received by the Office of the Speaker of Council. We are calling for an urgent, independent, transparent and properly documented investigation into these serious allegations. Public jobs and state resources belong to the people – they must never be used as instruments of political patronage or electioneering,” Ntshona said.
The party wants the probe to determine whether municipal jobs were being dished out in exchange for votes and whether state resources were abused to advance ANC electioneering.
Zungula has meanwhile also declared his intention to contest the Johannesburg mayoral race.
The Phala Phala scandal erupted in June 2022 after former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint alleging that at least $580,000 (about R10 million) in cash was stolen from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in February 2020, and that the matter was covered up.
Fraser alleged the President concealed the crime, failed to report it, and instructed his head of VIP protection to investigate and recover the money unlawfully.
Ramaphosa admitted the theft but said the money was proceeds from the sale of buffalo and denied wrongdoing, saying he reported the matter to his security.
A Section 89 independent panel led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found in November 2022 that Ramaphosa may have a case to answer. Parliament, however, voted against adopting the report in December 2022.
The ATM has since pursued the matter through Parliament and the courts, including unsuccessful bids at the Constitutional Court to overturn interdicts that paused public impeachment hearings.
The party has also alleged the dollars were illicit foreign funding laundered for the ANC, a claim the ANC and Ramaphosa have denied.