Phala Phala dollars were not declared with Sars, DA finds

A Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application by the Democratic Alliance to the South African Revenue Services has found there are no records of a declaration of the money President Cyril Ramaphosa received which was later stolen at his Phala Phala farm. 

The US dollars which were reportedly hidden inside a couch on the farm were not declared to Sars upon entering South Africa, said DA leader John Steenhuisen in a statement accompanied by the PAIA response from Sars.

Last year Ramaphosa claimed he had received $580,000 from Hazim Mustafa, a Sudanese national, as payment for cattle as part of a legitimate business transaction.

In turn, Mustafa claimed in a media interview that he had complied with the requirement to declare the money to Sars officials at OR Tambo airport upon entering South Africa.

But the DA said this was not the case. 

"The DA received Sars’ response this morning, with the revenue service confirming that 'the record does not exist and/or cannot be found," said Steenhuisen. 

"This was accompanied by an affidavit from Siyabonga Nkabinde, a legal specialist in Sars’ corporate legal services department."

In his affidavit, Nkabinde confirms that “On or around January 17, I commenced engagements with various business units within Sars that I believed may be in the custody and/or be in possession and/or have knowledge of the record requested and was advised that pursuant to the search for the record in various Sars Passenger Processing Systems the record could not be found and/or may not be in existence,” said Steenhuisen.

He said the information adds further credence to the findings of the section 89 panel’s report that there exists prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, as well as his oath of office.

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