Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that he in no way violated his oath of office in the Phala Phala scandal.
This comes a day after acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka cleared the president of any wrongdoing.
In a statement, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said they had noted Gcaleka’s report which absolves Ramaphosa of alleged abuse of power or breaches of the Executive Ethics Code in relation to an incident of theft at his privately owned Phala Phala game farm in 2020.
“The president has always maintained that he was not a party to any wrongdoing or violation of his oath of office,” Magwenya’s statement reads.
The matter relates to a burglary on the farm on the night of 9 February 2020, when at least two burglars stole an undisclosed amount of dollars stuffed under a sofa cushion.
News24 previously reported that Ramaphosa claimed that $580 000 cash was paid to his former farm manager, Sylvester Ndlovu, by Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa on Christmas Day in 2019 in exchange for a herd of buffalo, even though the buffaloes remained on the farm more than three years later.
Gcaleka said they could not investigate tax matters or foreign exchange control regulations as that fell under the mandate of the SA Revenue Service and the SA Reserve Bank.
The Public Protector’s office also did not investigate whether Ramaphosa had correctly reported the burglary to law enforcement in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. Gcaleka said this formed part of a Hawks investigation.
She found no evidence that Ramaphosa was involved in the day-to-day running of the farm or that he received any remuneration from it.
Gcaleka, however, noted evidence arising from the inspection of the president’s register for financial interests which revealed that he retained financial interests in Ntaba Nyoni, the holding company of Phala Phala farm.
Despite clearing Ramaphosa, Gcaleka found that Presidential Protection Service head Major General Wally Rhoode had acted improperly when he launched an investigation into the theft without authorisation or the powers to do so.
She also did not accept his version that he was conducting a threat analysis.
According to Gcaleka’s report, there was no evidence of a criminal case being registered.
The report has raised the ire of opposition parties.
The African Transformation Movement will ask the court to review the report.
The DA will also be consulting with its lawyers to take the report on review.
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