By Tannur Anders
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Three suspects accused of breaking into South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s game farm in 2020 and stealing millions of foreign currency in cash will appear in court on Monday, after an affair that nearly brought down the president two years ago.
RAMAPHOSA IN PERIL, BUT CLEARED
“Farmgate”, as it came to be known, nearly cost Ramaphosa the leadership of his African National Congress in late 2022, while issues of graft within the party contributed to the ANC losing its majority in an election in May – the most closely contested vote in South Africa’s democracy.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, and South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog cleared him in June 2023 of a potential conflict of interest related to the money hidden under a sofa on his Phala Phala game farm.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
The affair came to light when South Africa’s former spy chief, Arthur Fraser, walked into a police station in June 2022 and accused him of money laundering, corruption and covering up a large theft of cash.
Fraser told police the thieves had raided Ramaphosa’s game farm in February 2020, found at least $4 million in foreign cash hidden in furniture, and made off with the money.
Police opened a criminal investigation and critics and the national press raised questions about how Ramaphosa had acquired the cash and whether he declared it to the tax authorities.
Ramaphosa said there had been a break-in and that a much smaller amount of cash – proceeds from the sale of game – had gone. He denied covering up the crime, saying he was away when it happened and that he reported it when he got the details.
The three on trial were arrested in November last year.
RAMIFICATIONS
It has all been a huge embarrassment for Ramaphosa, who has repeatedly spoken about taking a tough line on graft, although his opponents failed to use it to oust him as president. He had in 2018 ousted his predecessor Jacob Zuma on a promise to clean up corruption.
He led the ANC in the elections earlier this year and secured a second full presidential term, but the party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, forcing it to share power with smaller rivals.
Following the formation of a new government, Helen Zille, senior politician in the Democratic Alliance, was quoted in local media as saying it would protect Ramaphosa from any potential impeachment motion on the issue.
THE INQUIRY
A report released by acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka found no evidence for the allegation that Ramaphosa violated his oath of office or exposed himself to a risk of conflict between his constitutional duties and his private interests.
The watchdog’s report documented a receipt for that amount related to the sale of buffalo, although the question of whether the money was reported to tax authorities was not within the scope of the watchdog’s investigation.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Tim Cocks and Hugh Lawson)
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