South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog has reportedly cleared president Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in a preliminary report on a cover-up scandal known as “farmgate”, involving between $580,000 and $5m of foreign currency hidden at his private game farm.
The Public Protector said it had notified implicated parties of the preliminary findings of its probe over the theft of the cash from Ramaphosa’s luxury farmhouse – something the president is accused of having attempted to conceal.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said on Saturday the president received the report, details of which were leaked to local media. “We note the report. As stated before, we reiterate that the president did not participate in any wrongdoing, nor did he violate the oath of his office,” Magwenya announced.
The scandal, which erupted in June, revolves around foreign cash that Ramaphosa acknowledged was stolen from beneath sofa cushions at his ranch.
The president, who has said the money was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman, has been accused of failing to report the matter to the police, as well as abusing his powers and exposing himself to a conflict of interest.
The report exonerates him, according to extracts published by several media outlets, but says the head of the presidential protection unit to whom Ramaphosa reported the crime acted improperly, investigating the case directly instead of reporting it to the police.
The findings, which the radical left opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party described as “nonsensical”, will bring some respite to Ramaphosa, who has been dogged by the allegations for months.
The scandal almost cost Ramaphosa his job in December when he narrowly escaped a parliamentary vote that could have initiated proceedings to remove him from office, and has endangered his chances of securing a second term after next year’s elections.
It will not be the end of the matter for the president. A police investigation is continuing, with the head of an elite unit who said earlier this week detectives have collected more than 120 statements as part of their investigation into the affair.
With Agence France-Presse
