[Source: Reuters]

South African President ​Cyril Ramaphosa faced down calls to resign over a scandal in which thieves stole bundles of ‌cash in foreign currency hidden in a sofa on his ranch.

In a televised address to the nation, Ramaphosa said he respected a constitutional court ruling that revived impeachment proceedings against him last week but pledged to defend himself.

“While there have been calls in some circles that I should resign, nothing ​in the Constitutional Court judgment compels me to resign my office,” Ramaphosa said.

The scandal, dubbed “Farmgate” by local media, has ​been a major embarrassment for Ramaphosa since it broke in 2022, as he came to power ⁠on a pledge to fight corruption and clean up the image of his party, the African National Congress.

Political analysts said they ​expected Ramaphosa would try to fight misconduct allegations against him but faced rising pressure before municipal elections in November, in which his ​party had already been expected to perform poorly.

“The timing couldn’t really be worse … from an ANC perspective,” said independent political analyst Daniel Silke.

The ANC has called a special meeting of its National Executive Committee for Tuesday to discuss what it should do.

CASH STASHED IN RANCH FURNITURE

In 2022, the ANC ​blocked the impeachment process through a vote in parliament, but the Constitutional Court said on Friday that the vote was invalid ​and allegations related to the theft should be probed further.

Ramaphosa, who has been head of state since 2018, has always denied wrongdoing.

He said the thieves ‌had ⁠stolen $580,000 from the sofa on his Phala Phala game farm in 2020, though a former intelligence official said the amount stolen was at least $4 million.

The theft raised questions about how Ramaphosa could have acquired so much cash, whether he declared it and why he stuffed it into furniture instead of depositing it at a bank.

Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman before he became president, has said the ​money represented proceeds from the ​sale of buffaloes. A central ⁠bank investigation found he had not contravened exchange control regulations.

RAMAPHOSA WOULD PROBABLY SURVIVE IMPEACHMENT VOTE

Analysts say there is still a long way to go in the impeachment process and Ramaphosa would likely survive ​if it went to a vote in parliament.

An impeachment vote requires a two-thirds majority to pass ​and, even though ⁠the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in a 2024 election, it still has about 40% of the seats in the National Assembly.

Former president Jacob Zuma’s political party, uMkhonto weSizwe, wrote to the National Assembly speaker over the weekend asking her to schedule a vote of ⁠no-confidence in ​Ramaphosa.

The speaker has not yet publicly responded.

Analysts say a no-confidence motion, which would ​require a simple majority to pass, is also unlikely to succeed as Ramaphosa would probably be backed by most ANC lawmakers and key coalition partners such ​as the Democratic Alliance.