Tanzania, June 14 -- Johannesburg. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has filed an urgent court application seeking to halt the commencement of parliamentary impeachment proceedings linked to the controversial Farmgate scandal, escalating a legal and political battle that has shadowed his presidency for nearly four years.

Court documents filed on Friday, June 12, show that Mr Ramaphosa is asking the High Court to suspend any impeachment process until it has ruled on a separate application in which he is challenging findings by an independent panel that concluded there may be grounds for him to answer allegations of misconduct.

The scandal centres on the theft of approximately $580,000 from Mr Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm in Li...