Johnathan Paoli
THE EFF have noted and rejected, with contempt, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) report on the Phala Phala investigation which cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in relation to the scandal.
The report found that a determination on whether exchange control violations had occurred was not available since the transaction was not allegedly concluded.
The EFF pointed to the increasing rumours of money-laundering being linked to the transaction and the Phala Phala Farm and insinuated that by their attempt to give an open-ended report, they inadvertently opened the possibility of laundering being a major factor.
“In their pathetic and poor attempt to cleanse Ramaphosa of the Phala Phala crimes, the SARB has unwittingly confirmed our suspicions that there was never a transaction or intention to have a legal transaction,” the EFF said.
Drawing attention to Ramaphosa’s possession of the foreign currency, the EFF said that the SARB was deflecting an authentic investigation along irrelevant lines of whether they had the mandate to investigate the matter or not.
What is important here is that the statement of SARB revolves around regulation 6(1), when in fact what is at stake here, revolves around the undeclared possession of foreign currency as stipulated under regulation 7 (1).
“SARB is duty-bound to register the flow of funds and police movements of currency within South Africa’s borders. The mandate of the SARB is not to police whether transactions were concluded or not, or whether goods were delivered or not after a purchase,” the EFF said.
The Red Berets have criticised SARB ‘s whole report as a weak attempt at avoiding its mandate and the true scope of its investigation in an effort to protect Ramaphosa from further legal prosecution.
The party said that the absence of SARS records in addition to the reluctant and purposefully obtuse report by the SARB, has significantly shifted the focus to include tax evasion and money laundering.
In addition, the EFF said that one of the main reasons for this protection of the president’s possibly highly illegal actions would be to safeguard his position as an agent for a destructive policy that seeks to maintain high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
The EFF concluded with a commitment to seek further legal advice in planning a response, going forward.
While the DA has called into question the application of law, since there is such an apparent hesitation at applying it.
“The Reserve Bank’s finding hinges on the absence of a ‘perfected transaction’ which means that the legal prerequisites for the transaction to be completed were not met. Specifically, the conditions for a perfected transaction were unfulfilled due to the non-delivery of a buffalo to the infamous businessman Hazim Mustafa.
“This led to the Reserve Bank’s conclusion that there was no legal obligation under the exchange control regulations of 1961 to declare the foreign currency,” the statement read.
“The narrow focus of its investigation also raises concerns about its thoroughness and whether any political considerations arose,” the DA said.
The DA, unlike other opposition parties, have vowed to pursue their crusade against deliberate ANC obscuration.
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