What has South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa been accused of?

South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa could be impeached after the country's top court ruled proceedings against him can be revived.

Mr Ramaphosa, 73, has served two terms as president, which have been plagued by corruption allegations.

But what has the president been accused of? Here's everything you need to know about the controversial South African president.

The 'farmgate' scandal

The head of state began coming under pressure to quit in 2022 over accusations he stashed millions of American dollars in sofas at his private game farm and then covered up its theft.

The scandal, dubbed "farmgate" by South African media, surfaced in June that year, when the country's former intelligence chief, Arthur Fraser, alleged the president had concealed the theft of more than $4m (£3.2m) from his ranch in 2020.

An independent parliamentary inquiry found Mr Ramaphosa may have breached anti-corruption laws, but he denied any wrongdoing and was not charged with any crimes.

The president acknowledged the money had been stolen, but disputed the amount and said it was $580,000 (£472,000) and had come from the legitimate sale of buffalo.

But the report questioned why the animals remained at the farm more than two years later.

His party rallied around him at the time, using its ⁠parliamentary majority to prevent ​an impeachment process from ​being launched.

But ​the far-left Economic Freedom ⁠Fighters (EFF) approached the country's constitutional court in 2024, arguing parliament ⁠had acted unlawfully by failing ​to hold Ramaphosa to ​account.

On Friday, the court backed the opposition case seeking to revive impeachment proceedings.

Political turmoil and fractured government

Mr Ramaphosa, a former anti-apartheid activist, narrowly won the African National Congress (ANC) leadership race in late 2017, and replaced scandal-plagued predecessor Jacob Zuma as state president in February 2018.

The former president was forced to resign a year before his term was due to expire after facing a no-confidence motion from his party amid multiple corruption allegations, some of which he later served prison time for.

Mr Ramaphosa, a former miners' union leader and one of South Africa's richest businessmen, had been the ANC's deputy president since December 2012.

He was elected as president for the first time in May 2019, promising he would help steer the country away from corruption.

But he won far less of a majority than the ANC had in previous years, as many voters turned against the ruling party due to revelations about government corruption and record unemployment.

In 2024 - after his first term was plagued by the farmgate scandal - the ANC lost its controlling majority for the first time since 1994, when Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the country's first multi-racial election.

Mr Ramaphosa retained power by heading what he called a government of national unity with five other parties, including the ANC's largest rival and critic, the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA).

Run-in with Trump at White House

Donald Trump ambushed the South African president when he visited the White House in May last year, playing videos purportedly showing evidence of a "genocide" of white farmers in his country.

The US president, who was hosting Mr Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, said the footage showed the graves of more than a thousand white farmers and "it's a terrible sight... I've never seen anything like it. Those people are all killed".

Mr Ramaphosa sat quietly and mostly expressionless. He later said: "I'd like to know where that is because this [the alleged burial site in the video] I've never seen".

The clips included one of communist politician Julius Malema playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer.

The US president also displayed printed copies of news articles that he said showed white South Africans who had been killed, saying "death, death" as he flipped through them.

Mr Trump accused South Africa of failing to address the killing of white farmers. South Africa's leaders have rejected suggestions that white people are disproportionately targeted by crime.

Mr Ramaphosa pushed back against Mr Trump's accusations, by responding: "What you saw, the speeches that were being made, that is not government policy."

He also said of the behaviour alleged by Mr Trump: "We are completely opposed to that."

As he left after around three hours at the White House, Mr Ramaphosa insisted his meeting with Mr Trump went "very well" despite the confrontation.

And he told a news conference: "There is just no genocide in South Africa."

Experts in South Africa have said there is no evidence of white people being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.

(c) Sky News 2026: What has South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa been accused of?