SOUTH AFRICAN President Cyril Ramaphosa has insisted that he will not resign, despite the establishment of an impeachment committee to reinvestigate allegations of serious misconduct.

Mr Ramaphosa is accused of hiding the theft of more than half a million dollars in cash, which had been stashed in a sofa at his game ranch.

In a televised address to the nation on Monday, the president said he would legally challenge a parliamentary report which found credible evidence of wrongdoing on his part, a process that is likely to significantly delay possible impeachment proceedings.

His announcement came a few hours after the parliament said it would set up the committee in compliance with a decision by South Africa’s highest court last week that the report should be referred to an impeachment body.

“I therefore respectfully want to make it clear that I will not resign. To do so would be to pre-empt a process defined by the constitution and give credence to a panel report that unfortunately has grave flaws,” Mr Ramaphosa said.

His decision follows a ruling by the Constitutional Court on Friday that a 2022 parliamentary vote blocking impeachment proceedings over the scandal was unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court said last week that, according to procedure, the 2022 independent report should have been referred to an impeachment committee for further investigation.

The allegations against Mr Ramaphosa were first made by a former head of South Africa’s state security agency, who in 2022 accused the president of money laundering and other offences in relation to the cash. It emerged the that theft had happened in 2020 and had been kept secret.

Mr Ramaphosa denied wrongdoing and said the money, in US dollars, came from the legitimate sale of buffaloes on his ranch. 

However, questions arose over the source of the money and why it was hidden in a sofa.