Cape Town – Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in the Phala Phala farm scandal, reports said on Saturday.
In the almost 200-page preliminary report, Gcaleka said her investigations found that Ramaphosa did not contravene the Executive Ethics code.
Gcaleka found that there was no proof that Ramaphosa was actively involved in the running of the farm.
“The allegation that the President improperly and in violation of the provisions of the Executive Ethics Code exposed himself to any risk of a conflict between his constitutional duties and obligations and his private interests arising from or affected by his alleged paid work in Phala farm is not substantiated,” Eye Witness News quoted Gcaleka as saying in the report.
In the assessment of the evidence, the Public Protector’s office said most of the complaints before it were based on the criminal complaint by former spy-boss Arthur Fraser, who first blew the lid on the scandal in June 2022, the report said.
Fraser alleged that Ramaphosa had concealed the theft of several million dollars from his farm in 2020.
He accused the president of having the burglars kidnapped and bribed into silence instead of reporting the matter to the authorities.
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The president acknowledged the theft of $580 000 in cash that was stashed under sofa cushions at his farm.
He said the money was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman, who recently confirmed the transaction in interviews with British media.
According to News24, the Public Protector could not investigate tax matters, or foreign exchange control regulations that fall under the mandate of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), respectively.
SARS this week revealed the tax status of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his companies – Ntaba Nyoni Estate, and Ntaba Nyoni Feedlot – and said they are “compliant” taxpayers.
“… the taxpayers are compliant with their tax obligations to date,” SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said.
Kieswetter said this came after “considerable public interest and concern” in the affairs of Ramaphosa and his companies.
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On the allegation that Ramaphosa failed to report the crime and abused his power using state resources in the form of getting the Presidential Protection Services’ Maj-Gen Wally Rhoode deployed at the farm to investigate the crime, Gcaleka found that this too was unsubstantiated, Times Live reported.
There was no evidence to support there was an intention to conceal the crime and abuse of power as well as state resources, the report said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said they have received the report, IOL reported.
“The Presidency is in receipt of the Public Protector’s preliminary report on the investigation of whether the President breached the executive ethics code with respect to the Phala Phala matter. We note the report. As stated before, we reiterate that the President did not participate in any wrongdoing, nor did he violate the oath of his office. Instead, the President was a victim of a crime that he duly reported to the relevant authorities,” the report quoted Magwenya as saying.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
