EFF slams Ramaphosa for ‘using employees’ to avoid direct links to his alleged crimes

The EFF has weighed in on the latest development regarding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm saga, alleging the president runs a "well-established syndicate" and uses his employees to avoid direct links with his alleged crimes. 

This comes after News24 reported a Sudanese businessman handed $580,000 (about R10m at current exchange rates) in cash to an employee at Ramaphosa’s Limpopo farm 45 days before the same money was stolen.

According to the publication, the man identified as Mustaf Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim handed the money to the employee on December 25 2019. 

In a statement, the red berets slammed Ramaphosa for not using a credible financial institution or a bank, saying he instead used furniture like a “drug smuggler” to store the money. 

“Ramaphosa’s claim that the money was given to his staff member in 2019 for the sale of buffalo and the claims the illicit money stolen at his farm was proceeds of game hold no ground because the animals he supposedly sold are on the Phala Phala farm two years later,” said the EFF. 

“This confirms Ramaphosa uses his farm and the Ankole society he leads as a disguise to launder money and receive illicit donations from his funders. His criminality, secrecy and extensive efforts to avoid tax and launder money are calculated and cause serious harm to SA’s economy.

“There is no doubt Ramaphosa not only keeps millions of illicit money on his properties, but equally he runs a well-established syndicate in which he uses his employees to avoid direct links with his crimes. He uses his employees to hide laundered money, his security detail to hunt down, abduct and torture suspects of crime and state resources to pursue people, conceal and commit crimes.”

The EFF reiterated the call for the release of the Phala Phala report, saying it is long overdue and that it will ensure all investigative authorities conduct their work and no cover-ups are conducted. 

On Friday, several opposition parties will picket at the public protector’s office in Tshwane. 

The parties — including the EFF, UDM, ATM, Cope and ACDP — are calling for acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka to release the report on Phala Phala. 

The parties said Gcaleka is in breach of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act by failing to release the report within 30 days of the initial complaint. 

EFF leader Julius Malema criticised Gcaleka. 

“The law says on matters of that nature on the president, the public protector must investigate and within 30 days release a report. It is more than 80 days without a report from the public protector,” said Malema.

“The law doesn’t say after 30 days come and tell us the status of the report’s readiness. It  says come and give us a report. If you are not ready, give us the portions that are ready.”

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