For more than three years the Phala Phala matter — the theft of roughly USD 580,000 in cash hidden at President Ramaphosa's game farm in 2020, and the secret, off-the-books response to it — sat closed. In December 2022 the National Assembly had voted 214 to 148 not to adopt the Section 89 independent panel's report, burying any impeachment inquiry.

On 8 May 2026 the Constitutional Court reopened it. In Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly [2026] ZACC 17, the court held that National Assembly Rule 129I was inconsistent with the Constitution, declared the December 2022 vote unlawful, and set it aside, with the effect that the impeachment process had to proceed.

Rather than welcome the chance to clear his name, the President went to court. In late May 2026 he applied to review and set aside the Section 89 panel's findings, and on 12 June 2026 he filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court to interdict the impeachment committee from sitting pending that review. The review is set down for 2–4 September 2026; the committee was scheduled to meet on 24 June 2026.