The US dollars Cyril Ramaphosa had stashed beneath a couch and mattress on his Phala Phala estate had not been declared to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) upon entering the country. This is according to claims made by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
According to IOL, the DA requested this material under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, and Sars provided it to the DA immediately (PAIA).
Ramaphosa stated around the end of last year that he had received $580,000 (R10.57 million) from a Sudanese man named Hazim Mustafa in exchange for cattle as part of an authorized commercial deal.
In response, Mustafa stated in a television interview that he had complied with the requirement to declare the money to Sars officials at OR Tambo airport upon entering South Africa, according to DA leader John Steenhuisen.
According to Steenhuisen, the Sars policy on excess cash mandates that “every person must declare” foreign currency upon entry into the nation. This provision’s violation is a crime that can result in legal action.
Steenhuisen requested the “relevant currency declaration forms” that Mustafa had submitted to declare the $580,000 he was bringing into the country in a PAIA request to Sars on December 7, 2022, to confirm Cyril and Mustafa’s assertions that this was a legitimate business transaction involving foreign currency that had entered the country legally.
The revenue service confirmed that “the record does not exist and/or cannot be found,” according to the DA, which claimed to have received Sars’ statement on Monday morning.
The party said that an affidavit from Siyabonga Nkabinde, a legal expert in Sars’ corporate legal services division, accompanied this.
What is Ramaphosa hiding?
Steenhuisen requested the “relevant currency declaration forms” that Mustafa had submitted to declare the $580,000 he was bringing into the country in a PAIA request to Sars on December 7, 2022, to confirm the president and Mustafa’s assertions that this was a legitimate business transaction involving foreign currency that had entered the country legally.
The revenue service confirmed that “the record does not exist and/or cannot be found,” according to the DA, which claimed to have received Sars’ statement on Monday morning.
The party said that an affidavit from Siyabonga Nkabinde, a legal expert in Sars’ corporate legal services division, accompanied this.
Why has Ramaphosa not been jailed or charged?
Steenhuisen stated, “It now appears more probable than ever that the president may have been in possession of these dirty monies for a corrupt, illegal, or criminal reason.
He said that the data also supported the Section 89 panel’s conclusion that the president may have broken the law, including the Constitution, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, and his oath of office. Ramaphosa promised to have the panel’s report overturned in court, but Steenhuisen claimed the ANC used the abuse of its majority in the National Assembly to do so last year.
He was refused direct access last week by the Constitutional Court to contest the panel’s conclusions.
“The DA will bring this fresh information from Sars as evidence that the panel’s report must stand if Ramaphosa turns to a different court in his desperate attempt to dodge punishment for his possession of dirty dollars and the subsequent cover-up of the theft at Phala Phala.”
As yet another reason why the National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula must grant the Democratic Alliance’s urgent request for the creation of an ad hoc committee to completely reveal the truth behind Ramaphosa’s filthy dollars, we will also present this material to her, said Steenhuisen.
The EFF stated that it had taken note of Sars’ response to a request for access to its data, in which Sars acknowledged that there had been no declaration of the 580,000 US dollars that had been imported illegally into South Africa and paid to a Ramaphosa Farm employee.
“The revelation by Sars is devastating in that it disproves Mustafa’s fabrications that he declared the money he sneaked to the president at OR Tambo International Airport. Mustafa made these claims on local and international news platforms. As Sars has now acknowledged that no such declaration exists, Mustafa has been exposed as being a part of a planned effort to deceive South Africa and cover up the Phala Phala Farm affair, according to EF national spokeswoman Sinawo Thambo.
$580,000.00
“At least 580,000 US dollars were imported into South Africa illegally and were not notified to Sars or the South African Reserve Bank, it is now incontrovertible fact,” he continued (SARB). Furthermore, it is evident that the funds purportedly used to buy buffalo on Phala Phala Farm were laundered through a fictitious transaction because the buffalo in question never left the farm.
Ramaphosa’s delaying strategies and those of the institutions in South Africa that are supposed to stop financial crimes are failing miserably, according to Thambo. “SARS’ confirmation of the lack of a declaration by Mustafa of the money that was given to Ramaphosa lends credence to the suspicions that Ramaphosa never declared the money he concealed in couches and mattresses to SARS himself because he knew the money was never declared once it entered South Africa,” he said.
According to Thambo, this indicates that Cyril Ramaphosa deliberately assisted and took part in tax cheating.
Ramaphosa must step-aside
Once more, the party demanded Ramaphosa’s immediate dismissal.
The Phala Phala Farm scandal is the greatest violation of South Africa’s laws and undermining of our economy, and it is a contributing factor to our country being greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).” “The EFF reiterates its call for the immediate resignation of Ramaphosa for having failed dismally to lead South Africa and for being a certified constitutional delinquent.”
READ MORE: Zuma calls Ramaphosa a thief who stashed money in mattresses
The people of South Africa must rise up on March 20, 2023, and force Ramaphosa to quit the office of President, which he continues to dishonor and demolish, Thambo said. “Ramaphosa is a criminal, and if he does not retire as the lies of Phala Phala unravel,” Thambo said.
When contacted for comment, Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for Ramaphosa, had not yet responded.
