Democratic Alliance leader, John Steenhuisen and leader of ActionSA, Herman Mashaba, have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to explain himself on the circumstances surrounding the robbery at his Phala Phala Farm in Limpopo, as called upon by the constitution.
Coined “DollarGate” by the DA, the scandal includes allegations of money-laundering, bribery and kidnapping.
Ramaphosa had apparently kept about $4 million at the farm which was stolen by his domestic worker and a group of Namibian men who broke into the house in February 2020.
Ramaphosa decided to keep the incident under wraps to avoid public scrutiny and in his words, “avoid a crisis”, reports IOL.
He said the money came from the sale of game.
“The President... cannot hide behind smokescreens to avoid presenting South Africans with the full truth around the money stolen from his farm, and the cover-up,” said Steenhuisen.
“There is no aspect of any police or investigation that prevents him from taking the country into his confidence with a honest account of events.”
Mashaba said he wrote letters to the Reserve Bank and SARS as Ramaphosa had broken “a number of laws”.
Key amongst his questions was whether Ramaphosa had declared the foreign currency transactions at Phala Phala to the SARB and SARS and if he had paid tax on it.
He said it is illegal for local businesses to transact in foreign currency unless it is for export purposes, and even then, transaction had to be by electronic transfer with appropriate documentation.
Citizens may not hold more than $10 000 in foreign currency.
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