Buffalo Soldier Strikes Back: Ramaphosa Takes Phala Phala Fight to Court as ANC Closes Ranks

Buffalo Soldier Strikes Back: President Cyril Ramaphosa takes Phala Phala battle to court, vows he won’t resign as ANC closes ranks.

By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief

The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.  

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CAPE TOWN – Known as the Buffalo Soldier, President Cyril Ramaphosa has gone on the offensive. He’s taken his fiercest political battle yet straight to the Western Cape High Court, filing papers to have the Section 89 panel’s Phala Phala report thrown out.  

And he’s not fighting alone. The ANC has drawn its line and dared the opposition to cross it.  

At a tense special sitting of the National Executive Committee on 15 May, the party resolved to stand fully behind Ramaphosa, rejecting calls for him to resign and preparing for a parliamentary fight that could define the rest of his term.  

“The agreement is clear, we will support the president on this warpath because we believe we have to give him the benefit of the doubt that the Reserve Bank cleared him,” a senior NEC member told The Azanian.  

The application was filed on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, after Ramaphosa made clear in a televised national address on 11 May that he would challenge the report led by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo.  

“I will not resign. I did not steal public money,” Ramaphosa said. “To resign would give credence to a flawed report.” He told the nation that stepping down now would hand a victory to those seeking to reverse the ANC’s renewal project.  

The address was a direct response to renewed calls from EFF leader Julius Malema and other opposition parties for him to step aside, following the Constitutional Court’s ruling on 8 May that Parliament acted unconstitutionally when it voted against processing the panel’s recommendations.  

The panel’s 2022 report concluded there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have acted unlawfully following the theft of about R10 million in foreign currency from his Phala Phala farm. It recommended an impeachment inquiry.  

Ramaphosa’s review application argues the panel relied on hearsay, misconceived its mandate, and committed grave errors of law. He contends the report “strayed beyond its mandate” and should be set aside before Parliament proceeds further.  

His legal team is pushing for an expedited hearing under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. Experts say the case could take up to a year, but Ramaphosa wants it fast-tracked.  

Inside the NEC, the debate wasn’t about guilt or innocence. It was about power, survival, and the cost of abandoning a sitting president three years before the next national election. The outcome was blunt: the ANC will shield Ramaphosa in Parliament and contest the inquiry on its merits.  

The resolution instructs ANC MPs to vote against proceeding with impeachment when the matter reaches the National Assembly. The calculation relies on the party’s 159 seats holding firm and on the opposition failing to reach the 267 votes needed for a two-thirds majority.  

ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe dismissed criticism from alliance partners as irrelevant. The SACP and COSATU, he said, have no seats in Parliament and no authority over how ANC MPs vote. “Leave the SACP. They are not a party in Parliament so they can’t talk about party members,” he told eNCA.  

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila has said the party will not back Ramaphosa in the National Assembly, warning that defending him would destroy the SACP’s credibility ahead of the 2026 local elections. COSATU has taken a similar line.  

Parliament has already moved ahead with the impeachment inquiry process, with 31 MPs confirmed to serve on the committee. The DA, EFF, ATM, and ActionSA have welcomed its formation. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said the inquiry must remain independent.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling means the impeachment process can run in parallel with the court review. That creates a dual track: a legal challenge in the judiciary and a political process in the National Assembly.  

If Ramaphosa wins in the High Court, the impeachment process collapses. If he loses, he faces the committee and a parliamentary vote with the panel’s findings intact.  

The numbers make the outcome uncertain. The ANC alone cannot block impeachment. It needs either the support of smaller parties or the absence of enough opposition MPs on the day of the vote. That’s why the NEC’s public show of unity matters. It’s meant to prevent defections and signal to wavering ANC MPs that breaking ranks carries a political cost.  

The Phala Phala saga has dogged Ramaphosa since 2022. The initial attempt to establish an impeachment committee collapsed after the ANC used its majority to block it. The Constitutional Court has now ruled that move unlawful, forcing Parliament to start again.  

For the ANC, the stakes go beyond one man. A successful impeachment would remove a sitting president, trigger a leadership crisis, and hand the opposition a political opening it hasn’t had since 1994. A failed impeachment would leave Ramaphosa wounded but still in office, and would expose the limits of opposition unity.  

The NEC also debated the reputational damage the scandal has caused. Some members warned that defending Ramaphosa too aggressively would alienate voters disillusioned with corruption and economic stagnation. Others argued that abandoning him would confirm the ANC’s reputation for eating its leaders.  

In the end, the committee chose institutional loyalty over individual liability.

It’s a gamble rooted in the belief that the Reserve Bank’s clearance on the foreign exchange violation gives Ramaphosa enough legal cover to survive politically, even if public trust remains low.  

Ramaphosa maintains the money came from legitimate cattle sales and was declared to the Presidential Protection Unit after the theft.  “I will not be forced out”. The Buffalo Soldier isn’t retreating. He’s advancing.  

Ramaphosa says he spent the weekend reflecting on the judgment and concluded the Constitution gives him the right to challenge an adverse report. For his supporters, this is a stand for due process and against a politically motivated takedown. For opponents, it’s another delay in a saga that’s dragged since 2022.  

The Western Cape High Court now holds the line. Until it rules, the message is clear: the ANC is closing ranks, and the fight for Ramaphosa’s political future begins in Parliament, and it will be fought in public.