South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has vehemently denied allegations of money laundering in connection with the theft of $4Mln from his luxury farm in the northern Limpopo province in February 2020, AP reported.
Ramaphosa told the Parliament in Cape Town on 28 September that he had reported the crime on his Phala Phala estate to a police general at the time.
“I deny that there was any form of money laundering. It was the proceeds of the sale of game. I have been a game farmer for a number of years. That is an activity that sometimes results in the sale of animals,” Ramaphosa said, as opposition lawmakers quizzed him on the scandal in the National Assembly.
He added:
“There was a theft at the farm and I reported it to a general in the South African Police Service [SAPS] who later informed me that he has also reported it to another general in the SAPS."
The President promised he would cooperate "to the fullest of his ability” with the investigation. No criminal charges have been brought against Ramaphosa. However, he faces an inquiry by a police unit for high-profile crimes and a Parliament-appointed panel of independent legal experts over the theft of a large amount of money in US dollars from his ranch in 2020.
The panel is to decide whether Ramaphosa should answer for an alleged breach of his oath of office.
The allegations targeting Ramaphosa first surfaced in June, when a criminal complaint was made by former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser.
Fraser, believed by some to be a Jacob Zuma ally, who served during the tenure of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, claimed to have videos, bank accounts statements etc, concerning the theft at the Phala Phala estate.
According to Fraser, robbers broke into Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game reserve in the north-east of the country and found and stole $4Mln cash hidden in furniture. Fraser alleged that Ramaphosa concealed the theft from police and the tax authorities. Instead, he purportedly organized the kidnapping and questioning of the robbers, and then bribed them to keep silent.
In response, Ramaphosa's office confirmed that there had been a robbery at his farm in Limpopo "in which proceeds from the sale of game were stolen". The president was out of the country at the time and reported the incident to the police's presidential protection unit, the statement from his office said.
Ramaphosa became president in February 2018 after Zuma resigned in the face of numerous corruption allegations, which he denied. However, the African National Congress (ANC) has remained split between supporters of the two men. The damning allegations surfaced ahead of the ANC policy conference which took place from 28 to 31 June to decide who the party's presidential candidate would be in the 2024 elections.
Accordingly, allies of the present South African president have suggested ulterior motives behind the complaint, tailored to sully the reputation of the 69-year-old Ramaphosa. His predecessors, Zuma and Thabo Mbeki, lost the confidence of the ANC and, as a result, resigned the presidency. Mbeki agreed to step down as South Africa's president in September 2008 after the country's ruling party formally requested his resignation over allegations he abused his power. Zuma resigned after intense pressure from his own party in 2018 amid numerous allegations of corruption.
The allegations come as Zuma refused to rule out a political comeback after serving time in jail, eNCA broadcaster reported on Tuesday, citing a statement released on the Twitter page of Zuma's daughter.
Zuma started his prison sentence in the summer of 2021 after being sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a Constitutional Court order to give evidence at an inquiry investigating corruption during his nine years in office.
However, in early September 2021, the South African government's department of correctional services reported that Zuma’s parole had been brought forward because of a medical report, although no details were given about the nature of his illness.