PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE DA is calling on the acting Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka to widen her investigation into the Phala Phala saga after the SA Revenue Service (SARS) confirmed on Monday that Hazim Mustafa did not declare the $580 000 in cash paid to the President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm.
The party’s initial request to the Public Protector for an investigation into the Phala Phala matter centred around a potential breach of the Executive Ethics Code.
But on Tuesday, DA leader, John Steenhuisen, said that the party now believes that the new information from SARS could also point to contraventions of additional laws by Ramaphosa.
Steenhuisen said the Phala Phala matter does not begin and end with the President, but rather “traverses a number of ministries, law enforcement bodies, and state entities – all of which are alleged to be deeply involved in a mass cover up operation of a seemingly illicit activity at the hands of a sitting President.”
He said the party has since written to the Office of the Public Protector to submit a formal declaration and affidavit obtained from SARS which shows that the Sudanese businessman did not declare his cash when he entered South Africa via the OR Tambo Airport.
“I have written to the Acting Public Protector, Adv Kholeka Gcaleka, to request that her investigation into allegations against the President be finalised urgently and to include the response from SARS that the US dollars hidden inside Ramaphosa’s couch were not declared,” said Steenhuisen.
In a letter to the Public Protector, Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa may be in contravention of a variety of other financial regulations.
“I am bringing the facts regarding this new development to your attention in the interests of transparency, accountability, and equality before the law – the very principles for which your office stands,” said Steenhuisen in his letter.
“I request that your investigation takes into account the new information brought to light through the attached PAIA application. I also implore your office to finalize this investigation as a matter of urgency. Section 21 of the Public Protector Act stipulates that a preliminary investigation shall be concluded within 30 days. Given that your office confirmed that you will be investigating this matter on 20 June 2022, it is clearly no longer reasonable or in the interests of justice for this matter to be delayed any further.”
On Tuesday, SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter issued a statement saying Ramaphosa was tax compliant but said nothing about the $580 000 allegedly stolen on Ramaphosa’s farm.
Last week, the Constitutional Court dismissed Ramaphosa’s application seeking access to review the adverse Phala Phala report and ruled that no case had been made for it to grant direct access and to intervene in the matter.
The president approached the apex court seeking direct access to challenge the findings of the report.
Ramaphosa is scheduled to provide oral replies to questions in the National Assembly in Cape Town on Thursday, 09 March, for the first term of 2023.
INSIDE POLITICS
