Phala Phala: What Ramaphosa Told Section 89 Panel About Theft of Foreign Currency From Sale of Several Buffalo

• President Cyril Ramaphosa had tongues wagging as he detailed how foreign currency ended up and was subsequently stolen on his Phala Phala Farm
• The president told the same story he had been telling since the scandal broke, that the money came from the sale of Ankole cattle to a Sudanese businessman
• Regardless of Ramaphosa's assistance that he has done no wrong, the Section 89 panel found that Ramaphosa has a case to answer to

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa unravelled his version of events about the controversial Phala Phala burglary to the section 89 panel of legal experts. The president insisted that he did nothing wrong.

The president told the panel how R9.9 million (in today's exchange rate) ended up in the sofa cushions of a spare bedroom at his Phala Phala game farm residence after a Sudanese businessman bought several buffalo in December 2019.

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As Ramaposa tells the story, the Phala Phala game farm houses several cattle and game, including Ankole cattle, are also bred and kept on the farm.

The president told the panel the animals double in number annually, and as such, populations are either culled or sold to manage the increasing numbers, TimesLIVE reported.

Ramaphosa and the game farm manager at the time, Henrick von Wielligh, agreed that some of the buffalo had to be disposed of because veterinary bills and feed were becoming financially unsustainable for the business.

Ramaphosa then detailed how, on 26 December 2019, he went to the farms, and the lodge manager, Mr Ndlovi told him that Sudanese businessman Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim had viewed the buffalos for sale. Hazim picked out the buffalo he liked and paid $580,000 for the animals.

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According to the president, after receiving the money, Ndlovu gave Hazim a receipt and locked the money in a safe at the Bayeto Centre office on the farm.

Ramaphosa said he instructed Ndlovu to keep the money in the safe until Von Wielligh returned from leave and could process the transaction and have the money banked.

The president then left the farm the following day, 27 December, and headed to Cape Town for the remainder of the festive season. Ramaphosa added that Ndlovu was going on leave on 30 December and was anxious about leaving the money in the safe several staff had access to.

This was when Ndlovu decided to hide the money in sofa cushions in a spare bedroom that was hardly used in Ramaphosa's private residence. Ramaphosa claimed Ndlovu believed no one would break into the president's house.

Months later, on 10 February 2020, the day of the burglary, Ramaphosa was sent CCTV footage of intruders breaking into the president's Phala Phala house. Ramaphosa told the panel that he immediately informed Major-General Wally Rhoode about the stolen money and trusted him to take the necessary steps to report and deal with the issue.

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Ramaphosa vehemently denied telling Rhoode to recoup the stolen money and insisted that it wasn't true that suspects were unlawfully detained and tortured.

Ramaphosa declared:

“I categorically deny that I have violated this oath in any way, and I similarly deny that I am guilty of any of the allegations made against me…”

The panel believed otherwise. On Wednesday, 30 November, the Section 89 panel found that President Ramaphosa may have committed serious misconduct and violated the Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Activities Act, eNCA reported.

Phala Phala: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma calls for Ramaphosa to step aside, Mzansi backs her with #ramaphosamustgo

In related news, Briefly News reported that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step aside following the release of the Section 89 panel's report on the Phala Phala farm theft.

Many South Africans have echoed this call under the #RamaphosaMustGo hashtag.

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Dlamini-Zuma, who is a member of the African National Congress's National Executive Committee (ANC NEC), stated that the damning findings of the report warranted an immediate step aside.

Source: Briefly News