Johannesburg – DA leader John Steenhuisen has written to Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka requesting that she include the latest South African Revenue Service (Sars) report as she finalises her investigation into the Phala Phala matter.
In a letter dated March 7, 2023, addressed to the acting public protector, Steenhuisen says the latest developments following a report from Sars require the attention of the public protector to further investigate.
This comes after the DA revealed on Monday that the US dollars hidden inside a couch on the game farm owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa were not declared to the Sars upon entering South Africa. The DA had obtained this information directly from Sars following a request submitted in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia).
Steenhuisen said in the absence of a Sars declaration, Ramaphosa may be in violation of a variety of other financial regulations, adding that the recent Sars report also found no records of Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa having declared foreign currency to the authorities when he arrived at OR Tambo airport ahead of his reported purchase of game at the Phala Phala farm in 2020.
As such, Steenhuisen has requested that the public protector take these new developments into account in her investigation of the Phala Phala farm scandal.
“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. I request that your investigation take into account the new information brought to light through the attached Paia application. I also implore your office to finalise this investigation as a matter of urgency,” Steenhuisen said.
In January this year, the acting public protector said she was about to finalise her investigation into the Phala Phala matter but was not able to reveal when the report would be made public.
At the time, Gcaleka said the preliminary report was prohibited from public consumption in accordance with its governing act.
Her office has been investigating complaints from African Transformation Movement (ATM) members that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution and anti-corruption laws, with ATM leader Vuyo Zungula alleging that Ramaphosa failed to declare foreign currency found at his farm.
“Dollars were stolen in February 2020; they were not declared, and theft was not reported. Only in 2022 did the theft become public knowledge. It's strange that Mr Ramaphosa didn’t declare the foreign currency, didn’t report the crime, but included that dollar transaction with a dodgy invoice to Sars,” he said.
The Star