The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) notes today’s landmark judgment of the Constitutional Court of South Africa concerning the Phala-Phalascandal and the unlawful manner in which Parliament shielded President Cyril Ramaphosa from constitutional accountability.
This judgment vindicates SAFTU’s position in December 2022, when we called on President Ramaphosa to resign following the explosive revelations about the concealed foreign-currency theft at his Phala-Phalafarm.
At the time, SAFTU warned that the scandal represented not merely an isolated controversy, but a profound constitutional,
political, and moral crisis exposing:
- the abuse of parliamentary majorities to shield executive power,
- the selective application of accountability,
- the erosion of institutional credibility,
- and the dangerous normalisation of elite impunity.
Today’s Constitutional Court judgment confirms that Parliament acted unlawfully and inconsistently with the Constitution when it blocked the Section 89 impeachment process despite the independent panel finding prima facie evidence that the President may have committed serious violations.
This is a devastating indictment not only of Parliament’s conduct, but of the broader political culture that has emerged within sections of the ANC leadership and the state apparatus.
SAFTU warned in 2022 that the Phala-Phala scandal would become a defining symbol of institutional decay if constitutional processes were manipulated to protect political power.
That is precisely what has now been confirmed.
The central issue has never been merely whether money was stolen at a farm.
The real issue has always been:
- why enormous quantities of foreign currency were allegedly concealed at a private residence;
- why ordinary disclosure, banking, and accountability standards appeared not to apply;
- why parallel security operations allegedly occurred outside normal legal processes;
- and why powerful institutions moved with extraordinary speed to politically neutralise scrutiny rather than uphold public accountability.
Ordinary South Africans were expected to accept as normal the existence of hundreds of thousands of US dollars hidden in furniture at the private property of a sitting President. Workers, unemployed youth, grant recipients, township residents, and poor communities know very well that had an ordinary citizen been found under similar circumstances, the full might of the state would have descended immediately upon them.
Instead, what followed was a coordinated political defence operation involving sections of Parliament and institutions that appeared more concerned with protecting the Presidency than defending constitutional accountability.
Today’s judgment, therefore, raises serious questions about the extent to which institutions of democracy and oversight have become compromised in defence of political power.
SAFTU reiterates its grave concern regarding the role played by:
- the South African Reserve Bank,
- the Office of the Public Protector,
- and other institutions that ultimately found little or nothing fundamentally wrong in circumstances that shocked millions of ordinary South Africans.
Today’s Constitutional Court judgment has now shattered whatever credibility remained in those findings.
The Public Protector and the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank cannot simply continue as though nothing has happened.
Their handling of the Phala-Phala matter has profoundly damaged public trust in the impartiality, independence, and integrity of institutions that are supposed to defend constitutional governance without fear or favour.
Millions of South Africans are asking a simple and legitimate question: How could institutions entrusted with protecting constitutional accountability find nothing fundamentally alarming about a sitting President keeping vast quantities of foreign currency hidden inside private furniture at his residence?
Today’s judgment exposes the extent to which constitutional and oversight mechanisms were bent toward shielding political power rather than defending accountability.
For this reason, SAFTU believes the Public Protector and the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank are now irreparably compromised in the eyes of the public.
No serious constitutional democracy can function when key oversight institutions lose all public credibility.
SAFTU therefore calls on both the Public Protector and the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank to resign.
Their continued occupation of office will only deepen public perceptions that state institutions are manipulated to protect political elites while ordinary citizens are subjected to entirely different standards of scrutiny and enforcement.
The Constitutional Court judgment further confirms SAFTU’s long-standing warning that sections of the ANC leadership have become deeply compromised by:
- factionalism,
- patronage,
- political shielding,
- elite networks,
- and institutional manipulation.
Only three days ago, SAFTU warned, in relation to other serious allegations facing senior government figures, that the deeper crisis confronting South Africa is the growing tendency of institutions to protect political elites until overwhelming public pressure, investigative journalism, whistleblowers, or the courts force accountability.
Today’s judgment powerfully reinforces that warning.
This institutional decay is unfolding while the working class faces:
- mass unemployment,
- hunger,
- collapsing municipalities,
- corruption in procurement,
- failing healthcare,
- education crises,
- infrastructure collapse,
- electricity increases,
- transport costs,
- and brutal austerity imposed on workers and poor communities.
The same political establishment that claims there is “no money” for nurses, teachers, municipal workers, community health workers, rail infrastructure, or social protection somehow always mobilises immense institutional energy when political elites require protection.
SAFTU warns that selective accountability and elite impunity are destroying democratic legitimacy and creating fertile conditions for: - authoritarian populism,
- xenophobia,
- vigilantism,
- political cynicism,
- and social instability.
When institutions cease to apply the law equally, society itself becomes destabilised.
SAFTU therefore reiterates:
- President Cyril Ramaphosa should have resigned following the Phala-Phala revelations.
- Parliament must never again abuse constitutional processes to shield executive power;
- The Public Protector and the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank should resign following the catastrophic collapse of public confidence in their handling of the Phala-Phala matter;
- Institutions tasked with accountability must be genuinely independent and free from political interference;
- Full transparency is required regarding the origin, declaration, storage, and movement of the foreign currency linked to Phala-Phala;
- All institutions implicated in shielding political power from scrutiny must themselves face accountability;
- South Africa urgently requires the rebuilding of democratic institutions in the interests of workers and the poor, not political elites.
Today’s Constitutional Court judgment is not merely about one President or one scandal.
It is about whether South Africa remains a constitutional democracy governed by accountability and equality before the law, or whether state institutions will continue to be bent in defence of political power and elite privilege.
The working class deserves better.
A statement was issued on behalf of SAFTU by the General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.
For media inquiries, contact:
National Spokesperson:
Newton Masuku
newtonm@saftu.org.za 0661682157
Media Officer
Asive Dyani 0719019564
