South Africa may be closer to a Paul Mashatile presidency than ever before, following the Phala Phala bombshell the Constitutional Court delivered today. The question now hanging in the air: Will President Cyril Ramaphosa still have the appetite for what must now follow?

Firstly, it must be noted that the country’s constitution has once again served admirably as a shield against corruption. The Constitutional Court has, for the second time since its establishment in 1994, severely reprimanded an ANC president.

First was the Nkandla ruling against former president Jacob Zuma’s use of state funds for upgrades at his Nkandla residence. (The same court also later sent him to prison for contempt of the very institution, because he did not comply with the court’s order that he testify before the Zondo commission.)

It is good for the supremacy of the law and the eradication of corruption that Ramaphosa is now also being taken to task by today’s ruling. No one can be considered too important to be held accountable before the law.

With the release of the Phala Phala report at the time by an independent parliamentary investigation panel, Ramaphosa wanted to pack his bags and leave. However, he was literally begged by his inner circle and others to stay on, especially because his succession planning – as is still the case now – was in chaos. He then stayed and they used their parliamentary majority to make the issue “go away”.

The question now is: Does Ramaphosa have the stamina to go through impeachment proceedings in parliament? The ANC no longer has a majority there. Can he now already be struck by a motion of no confidence, and what will parties such as the DA and VF Plus then do?

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The most important of all the questions is whether there is any way to keep the hardened late-night party-goer and deputy president of the country, Mashatile, out of the presidency should Ramaphosa now leave? The ANC, MK Party and EFF have a joint majority in the National Assembly – a new government of national unity under Mashatile could be born in this way. And the Alex mafia would then be in Tuynhuys.

Ironically, the good news of a confirmation of constitutional integrity has brought the country to the edge of the abyss of a political nightmare.

• Barnard Beukman is editor of the national Afrikaans weekly, Die Papier.