The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) wishes to place it on record that it does not agree with the finding of the South African Reserve Bank on their Phala Phala investigation. The Reserve Bank investigations concluded that because the transaction was not “perfected” – Mustafa never received delivery of the buffalo – there was no legal obligation on Ramaphosa or Ntaba Nyoni to have declared the foreign currency under exchange control regulations.
We must never forget that the Section 89 Independent Panel, initiated by Parliament and chaired by former chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, found that Mr. Ramaphosa had a case to answer regarding the dollars stolen from his farm.
Strangely, the acting Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, cleared Mr. Ramaphosa of allegations of misconduct relating to his Limpopo farm, stating that there was no conflict of interest, no abuse of power and that the President received no remuneration from the farm. Now, we have another government institution, the South African Reserve Bank, seemingly coming to the defence, of what the majority of South Africans would see as the indefensible. Mr Ramaphosa is supposedly cleared because of a transaction that was not “perfected”, as the cattle were not transferred to the buyer.
Some questions beg to be answered. Why did SARS indicate that Mr Ramaphosa was compliant on the transaction, that is, tax was paid, if the transaction was not “perfected”? Are the allegations of money laundering true, considering the findings of the SARB?
It is the view of the ACDP that the findings of SARS and the SARB, lends credence to the now established hypothesis, that some people are more equal than others. The message this sends to the South African public is that No.1 must be protected at all costs.
The ACDP joins other political parties and interest groups, in calling for the release of the full report on the SARB investigation. We reiterate our position that no one is above the law and all government institutions must act in a manner which upholds the constitutional imperative that all are equal before the law.
-ENDS-
