South African president cleared of wrongdoing over cash stolen from his farm

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has been cleared of wrongdoing by a public watchdog over a scandal involving the theft of more than $500,000 in US currency stashed in a sofa at his game farm.

Acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka, whose office holds politicians to account, said Mr Ramaphosa did not violate the ethics code for members of South Africa’s executive over the incident, which happened in 2020 but was only revealed publicly last year.

The scandal was seen as the biggest challenge to Mr Ramaphosa’s reputation and his leadership of Africa’s most developed economy.

There is still an ongoing criminal investigation into the incident.

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Mr Ramaphosa said $580,000 dollars (€531,000) in cash was stolen.

Ms Gcaleka said it was not part of her investigation to confirm how much money was involved and did not give a figure.

Mr Ramaphosa (70) was accused of not reporting the theft properly to police in a bid to cover up the existence of the large sum of cash hidden in furniture at his farm.

He said he reported it to the head of his security detail, which is part of the South African Police Services.

In clearing him in her final report on the scandal, Ms Gcaleka accepted Mr Ramaphosa had reported the crime to the head of his personal protection unit and the contention that he had acted improperly was “not supported”.

Ms Gcaleka also said there was no evidence that Mr Ramaphosa was guilty of a conflict of interest regarding any income from the business operations of his Phala Phala game farm in the northern Limpopo province.

“The allegation that the president improperly and in violation of the provisions of the executive code exposed him to a risk of a conflict between his constitutional duties and obligations and his private interests arising from his alleged paid work at Phala Phala farm is not substantiated,” Ms Gcaleka said at a press conference.

The investigation of Mr Ramaphosa was prompted by a complaint made to the Public Protector’s office by the opposition African Transformation Movement Party.

The incident came to light last June when the former head of South Africa’s intelligence service, Arthur Fraser, opened a case, with police accusing Mr Ramaphosa of hiding as much as $4 million at his farm before it was stolen.

Mr Fraser accused the president of money laundering and breaching tax and foreign currency control laws and trying to cover up the theft of the cash in an attempt to hide its existence.

Mr Ramaphosa denied any wrongdoing and also disputed the amount of money Mr Fraser claimed was stolen.

Mr Fraser also made other claims that Mr Ramaphosa ordered the head of his personal protection unit, major gen Wally Rhoode, to undertake a clandestine investigation to recover the money, including the capture and torturing of some of the suspects and later bribing them to keep the incident secret.

Ms Gcaleka dispelled those allegations, or even that Mr Ramaphosa knew of details of the investigation by maj gen Rhoode.

“No evidence could be found to prove that the president was aware of the investigation of the crime by Gen Rhoode,” she said.

The scandal had seriously dented Mr Ramaphosa’s image as a leader intent on cleaning up South Africa’s corruption-tainted government and his ruling African National Congress party.

Questions remain, though, over why such a large amount of money was stuffed into a sofa at the farm.

Mr Ramaphosa has not explained why the cash was in the sofa but said it was the proceeds from the sale of buffaloes to a Sudanese businessman.

The scandal led to opposition parties calling for Mr Ramaphosa’s resignation but they failed in a bid to start impeachment proceedings against him as his ANC party maintains a majority in the 400-member Parliament.

In December, a report by a parliamentary panel looking into the matter found that Mr Ramaphosa may have broken anti-corruption laws.

According to that report, Mr Ramaphosa said the money stolen amounted to $580,000.

The report also questioned Mr Ramaphosa’s explanation that the money was from the sale of buffaloes as it found the animals remained at the farm more than two years later.

However, the ANC rejected the findings of the report and used its majority in South African parliament to block attempts to start impeachment proceedings, paving the way for Mr Ramaphosa to be re-elected as the party’s leader.

He is expected to seek a second and final five-year term in elections next year. – AP