A sofa stuffed with cash imperils South Africa’s president

Last month Cyril Ramaphosa was on a state visit to Britain, beaming under the chandeliers of Buckingham Palace. South Africa’s president was in a buoyant mood. He was being wooed abroad. At home he was the clear favourite to retain the presidency of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at the party’s national conference beginning on December 16th—and thus, in all probability, leadership of the country for the rest of the decade.

Mr Ramaphosa’s political fate now hangs in the balance. On November 30th an independent panel appointed by the speaker of South Africa’s parliament said that MPs could begin impeachment proceedings against the president (pictured). Its report, authored by a retired chief justice, found “prima facie” evidence that the president broke the law and violated the constitution, in an odd saga involving a score of buffalo, a Sudanese businessman and hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen (by unknown thieves) from a sofa.