No record Phala Phala foreign currency was declared to SARS

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it has been unable to find any record that Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa declared the large sum of foreign currency he brought into South Africa in December 2019.

Mustafa alleged that he declared $580 000 upon entering the country. It’s also alleged that the businessman paid President Cyril Ramaphosa for some buffalo on his Phala Phala farm in the same year.

The response from SARS 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, as well as his oath of office. pic.twitter.com/LlWtuSqKhj

— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) March 6, 2023

However, in a written affidavit to Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen, the tax service says it concluded that the record either did not exist or could not be found.

Steenhuisen filed a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request with SARS asking for a copy of the declaration form in December last year.

This after the Section 89 Independent Panel report found that Ramaphosa may have a prima facie case to answer in relation to the undeclared theft of money on his Limpopo farm in 2020.

🚨 The DA can today reveal that the US dollars hidden inside a couch on the Phala Phala farm of President Ramaphosa were not declared to SARS upon entering South Africa. The DA obtained this information directly from SARS following a PAIA application. https://t.co/weVTQtzYm9

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) March 6, 2023