Johannesburg – South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has submitted answers to the country’s anti-corruption watchdog over the alleged concealment of a cash theft at his luxury farmhouse, his office said on Friday.
The Public Protector’s office had threatened to subpoena the president earlier this week after a deadline to respond expired.
On Friday, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told AFP the subpoena warning had been “grossly unnecessary”.
The watchdog opened a probe in June over potential breaches of the executive ethics code after Ramaphosa was accused of bribing burglars to keep quiet about a February 2020 heist at his ranch. It is alleged $4 million in cash was stolen.
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The case, which has piled pressure on the president amid heightened tensions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, stems from a police report filed by former national spy boss Arthur Fraser last month.
Fraser alleged that robbers broke into Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in the northeast of the country where they found the cash hidden in furniture.
Ramaphosa hid the robbery from police and the tax authorities, Fraser alleged, accusing the head of state of organising the kidnapping and questioning of the robbers, and then bribing them into silence.
The president has acknowledged the burglary but denies the alleged kidnapping and bribery, saying he reported the burglary to the police.
He has also disputed the amount of money involved and said the cash came from legitimate sales of game from his animal breeding farm.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@CyrilRamaphosa
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