PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE South African Revenue Services (SARS) confirmed on Monday that it has no record of the $580 000 allegedly brought into South Africa by a Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa for the purchase of buffaloes at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm.
SARS was responding to the request by the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) John Steenhuisen, made in terms of section 18(1) of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) regarding the declaration of a certain traveller.
Towards the end of last year, Ramaphosa claimed that he had received US$580 000 from one 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.
The SARS customs policy on excess currency stipulates that “every person must declare” foreign currency upon arrival in the country.
Failure to adhere to this provision is an offence that may be criminally prosecuted.
To verify Ramaphosa and Mustafa’s claims that this was a legitimate business transaction using foreign currency that had legally entered the country, Steenhuisen on 7 December 2022 submitted a PAIA request to SARS to obtain the “relevant currency declaration forms that Mr. Hazim Mustafa submitted to declare the US$580 000 that he was bringing into the country.”
“The SARS Information Officer, after an extensive search for the record in various SARS Passenger Processing Systems, and engagements with the relevant business units within SARS which he believed may be in custody of and/ or be in possession of and/or have knowledge of the records requested, was advised that the record could not be found and /or may not be in existence.”
“The SARS Information Officer informed Mr Steenhuisen of the process followed, and accordingly, notified Mr Steenhuisen in terms of section 23(1) of PAIA. That SARS is not in possession of said record,” SARS said on Monday.
Steenhuisen said the response by SARS means that the country now knows that the President of South Africa had hidden “dirty” dollars, which had entered the country illegally, inside a couch on his game farm.
“It renders Ramaphosa’s claim that these funds were merely the proceeds of a business transaction impossible to believe, because legitimate business transactions are usually not hidden from SARS inside a couch. It now seems more likely than ever that Ramaphosa may have been in possession of these dirty dollars for a corrupt, illicit or criminal purpose,” Steenhuisen said.
The EFF said it has noted the response by the South African Reserve Bank to a request to access its records in which SARS has confirmed that there was no declaration of the $580 000 which were illicitly brought into South Africa and given to President Ramaphosa’s employees at Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
“The revelation by SARS is damning, in that it refutes the concocted lies of the Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa who claimed on local and international news platforms that he declared the money he smuggled to Ramaphosa at OR Tambo international Airport. SARS has today confirmed that no such a declaration exists, exposing Mustafa as being part of an orchestrated attempt to mislead South Africa and bury the Phala Phala farm scandal,” the EFF said in a statement on Monday.
The party said it is now an undeniable fact that at least $580 000 were brought into South Africa illegally, and were not declared to SARS or SARB.
“It is further undeniable that the money which was supposedly for the purchase of buffalo on Phala Phala farm was laundered through a falsification transaction because the buffalo which were supposedly bought never left Phala Phala farm,” it said.
It further said that the confirmation by SARS means that Ramaphosa “actively aided and participated in the tax evasion, and is a contributing factor to the grey listing of our country by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)”.
EFF called for President Ramaphosa to resign in light of the confirmation by SARS that the $580 000 entered the country illegally.
Both the DA and EFF said the information also 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 (PRECCA), as well as his oath of office.
INSIDE POLITICS
