‘Whether Ramaphosa banked Phala Phala funds within 30 days is the question’

Director of Accountability Now, Advocate Paul Hoffman says that while the leaked preliminary report by the office of the Public Protector, seems to clear president Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in the robbery at his Phala Phala farm in 2020, the issue is whether money from the transaction was banked within 30 days with the Reserve Bank, as is required by law.

“It is not the responsibility of the president to enquire as to the legality to the dollars that were profit to him. What he did have to do was bank them within 30 days,” says Hoffman.

“The theft occurred more than 30 days after the money was paid. So, quite clearly, that Reserve Bank aspect of the matter, which is really a very simple inquiry, that aspect has not been dealt with at all,” he adds.

Hoffman has questioned the motive for leaking to the public domain the public protector’s preliminary report into a robbery at President Ramaphosa’s farm in 2020, where an undisclosed amount of foreign currency was stolen.

A leaked and confidential report from the Office of the Public Protector clears Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in the handling of the matter.

Hoffman says while the leak requires enquiry, it’s an opportunity for all interested parties to examine the findings and the thought processes that went into the findings.

“The first point that needs to be made is that what we have, after a nine-month gestation period, is a preliminary report from the Office of the Public Protector. Why it should take nine months is a complete mystery to me? And why – if it is meant to be a confidential preliminary report – it has been leaked to the public domain, is also something that requires inquiry,” says Hoffman.

The Reserve Bank’s Financial Surveillance Department last year wrote to the President requesting information on the origins of the foreign currency that was stolen on his farm and any underlying transaction that may pertain to it.

Constitutional Law Expert Advocate Michael Osborne weighs in: