The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) say there is no doubt that President Cyril Ramaphosa not only keeps millions of illicit money on his properties, but runs a well-established syndicate in which he uses his employees to avoid any direct links with his crimes. The red berets comments come after a Sudanese businessman handed $580 000 (about R8 million) in cash to an employee at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm 45 days before the same money was stolen. The EFF said Ramaphosa told the Public Protector the money was handed to the employee on 25 December 2019, by a man identified as Mustaf Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim.

Cyril Ramaphosa told the Public Protector – the money which was given to him was reportedly hidden under a “sofa cushion” claiming he could provide a receipt for the cash transaction. The EFF said Ramaphosa never considered utilising a credible financial institution or a bank, and instead used furniture like a “drug-smuggler”, because he knew he was laundering money. “Ramaphosa’s claims that the money was given to his staff member in 2019, for the sale of buffalo, and the numerous claims that the illicit money stolen at his farm were proceeds of game hold no ground, because the animals he supposedly sold are still on Phala Phala Farm two-years later.” “This confirms that Ramaphosa uses his farm and the Ankole Society that he leads, as a disguise to launder money and receive illicit donations from his funders,” the EFF said.

The EFF said Ramaphosa’s “criminality, secrecy and extensive efforts to avoid tax and launder money are calculated and cause serious harm to South Africa’s economy”. “He uses his employees to hide laundered money, his security detail to hunt down, abduct and torture suspects of crime and state resources to pursue people, conceal and commit crimes.” “The EFF reiterates the call for the release of the Phala Phala Report, as it will expose Ramaphosa as a liar and a criminal,” the party added. The EFF said the release of the Phala Phala Report is long overdue and it will ensure that all investigative authorities conduct their work and that no cover-ups are conducted in defence of a “money laundering President”.

EFF Statement On Cyril Ramaphosa’s Confirmation And Knowledge Of Illicit Money Being Kept On Phala Phala Farm pic.twitter.com/SBvyQgSpEb

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 6, 2022