“PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I’M SORRY, SA!” MPS RIP RAMAPHOSA/SAPS OVER PHALA PHALA COVER-UP TILL HE BEGS
President Cyril Ramaphosa thought he had buried the failure scandal forever, but Parliament just dragged his top cops into an absolute bloodbath on live television.
This might force Cyril Ramaphosa to resign.
For years, Cyril Ramaphosa used the state to hide why he had half a million US dollars stuffed inside a farmhouse couch.
He buried a top secret IPID document to protect his head of security who ran an illegal off-the-books international investigation directly in the president’s name.
This massive coverup just completely collapsed.
Furious MPs from every political party mercilessly cornered Cyril Ramaphosa‘s defenders and his captured police force.
They ruthlessly ripped into the president’s dirty secrets and shattered their arrogance.
The grilling was so brutal that his officials completely broke down, conceding defeat and begging for a physical parliamentary session just to escape the political firing squad.
The billionaire president’s protective wall has finally fallen.
Addressing his business dealings, Cyril Ramaphosa stated: “However, I would like to say that I’m a farmer. I’m in the kettle business and the game business and through that business which has been declared in parliament and all over. I buy and I sell animals. Sometimes people buy these animals and some of the people who have bought some of the animals some of them are here. I do it. Yes, I do it through the sales are sometimes through cash or sometimes through transfers. Some of the people who are offshore customers and who are sometimes local, they come through and buy animals and some of them come also to hunt on the farm. And so this that’s being reported was a clear business transaction of selling animals”.
Questioning focused on Section 96 of the Constitution, which prohibits members of the cabinet and deputy ministers from undertaking paid work or exposing themselves to situations involving a risk of a conflict between official responsibilities and private interests.
Officials confirmed that the report took Section 96, the Executive Members Ethics Act, and the Public Protector Act into account, concluding that Cyril Ramaphosa did not undertake paid work but rather maintains a financial interest in the close corporation.
The report detailed that Cyril Ramaphosa has members interest translating into financial interest in the farm, while farm managers and farm workers run the daily operations.
On the day of the sale in question, the farm manager, Fela, handled the transaction while Cyril Ramaphosa was not present at the farm.
When challenged on whether being a farmer who sells animals for money constitutes a job, officials maintained that Cyril Ramaphosa does not physically conduct the sales or invest physical and mental labor into the day-to-day operations.
Further testimony examined why lodge manager Mr. Ndlovu provided Cyril Ramaphosa with a detailed report regarding the handling of foreign currency, telling him to wait until returning from holiday.
Officials explained that Fela was on leave at the time, leading Mr. Ndlovu to inform the financial interest holder about a large sum of foreign currency.
The foreign currency involved was found stashed inside furniture during a break-in at the president’s farm, which led to a court case regarding housebreaking and theft.
Addressing whether the conduct aligns with political standards, officials noted that ANC values do not permit stealing, emphasizing that Cyril Ramaphosa was the victim of the theft rather than the perpetrator.
MPs questioned the physical evidence, asking why the couch stashing almost half a million dollars was never booked into evidence or photographed.
Frustrated by virtual proceedings, MPs argued that COVID restrictions no longer applied and demanded an in-person sitting, accusing the format of protecting Cyril Ramaphosa from proper parliamentary accountability.
Regarding the 2020 Pala Pala farm theft in Limpopo, South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter addressed the tax compliance statement issued for the $4 million game animal sale.
Edward Kieswetter stated: “The accountability for the declaration of bringing the cash into our country rests with a traveler. Any amount above 25,000 has to be declared. If it is higher than that, SARS customs officers will detain the balance and the traveler would have to apply to the Reserve Bank for the release of the money subject to a justifiable explanation. SARS can find no evidence that such a declaration has been made in terms of assessing the tax liability of a taxpayer. And in this case, the president together with the entities in question and based on the audit and the investigation we’ve done, we can say that all outstanding returns and questions are submitted. All outstanding payments are paid. There is therefore no outstanding liability and that means the taxpayer is fully compliant. That’s the statement we made and we could not make that statement without the consent of the president and the public officers who are responsible for those entities”.
Limpopo Director of Public Prosecutions Ivy Thengamhandha decided not to prosecute Cyril Ramaphosa or anyone else regarding the Pala Pala farm case following an assessment of evidence presented by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
The original complaint laid by Arthur Fraser requested police to investigate Cyril Ramaphosa and Major General Wally Rhoode for money laundering and corruption.
Opposing parties demanded the release of the classified IPID report, accusing IPID of classifying it as top secret to hide whether Presidential Protection Unit members operated outside the law to protect Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the $580,000 stashed in his couch.
Police representatives responded that the crime investigated was housebreaking and theft of cash rather than the theft of the sofa itself.
Lawmakers raised concerns over cash transactions, asking why Mustaf Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim left money as a deposit without a bank guarantee or formal contract, and why the Reserve Bank did not investigate the transaction as money laundering.
The Reserve Bank noted its mandate ends with overseeing financial institutions, leaving money laundering investigations to law enforcement authorities and the Financial Intelligence Centre.
Addressing the classified IPID report, officials confirmed that the head of IPID classified the document independently of the minister, citing parallel ongoing criminal investigations.
The minister advised MP Nqabayomzi Kwankwa to approach IPID directly to request the declassification of the report.
As frustration grew over unanswered questions regarding bribery and actions taken in Namibia, acting police minister Firoz Cachalia agreed to a full, in-person parliamentary session with both IPID and SAPS.
MP Vuyo Zungula and other lawmakers pushed for direct answers, pointing out that there is no record of the foreign cash being declared at OR Tambo International Airport by the buyer.
In response to demands for immediate parliamentary answers, Cyril Ramaphosa stated: “I stand ready to as people have said take the nation into its confidence. I stand ready to do so to give an explanation. But for me it’s been important that this matter having occurred that I should give space stand back and allow the various agencies to deal with this matter as thoroughly as I believe they are doing”.
Parliamentary panel discussions highlighted the findings regarding how the cash ended up in the furniture.
The panel determined that Mr. Ndlovu stashed the money inside a leather sofa in a spare bedroom on his own initiative because he was going on leave and feared the money would not be safe in the farm safe.
However, the independent panel concluded that Cyril Ramaphosa‘s version was not credible on probabilities, finding it unlikely that a lodge manager would store money in the president’s private residence without instructions or knowledge.
Legal arguments before Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga focused on the cross-border investigation in Namibia, examining meetings at no man’s land involving Major General Wally Rhoode and Mr. Chalky.
The panel concluded on totality that sufficient evidence established a prima facie case that Cyril Ramaphosa gave an unlawful instruction, referring the matter forward to the impeachment committee.
Copyright: voice of South Africa
