Watchdog 'clears' South Africa's Ramaphosa over cover-up scandal

New Delhi: The anti-corruption watchdog in South Africa has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in a preliminary report into a cover-up scandal that has tarnished his reputation.

According to a report in Al Jazeera, The Public Protector said it has notified implicated parties of the preliminary findings of its probe over the theft of large amounts of cash from Ramaphosa’s luxury Phala Phala farm – something the president is accused of having attempted to conceal.

The incident took place in June and involved about $500,000 in cash that Ramaphosa acknowledged were stolen from beneath sofa cushions at his ranch.

The president, who has said the money was payment for buffalos bought by a Sudanese businessman, has been accused of failing to report the matter to the police, as well as abusing his powers and exposing himself to a conflict of interest over the affair.

The report exonerates him but found the head of the presidential protection unit to whom Ramaphosa reported the crime acted improperly, investigating the case directly instead of reporting it to the police, according to extracts published by several media outlets.

The findings, which the radical left opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party described as “nonsensical”, will bring some respite to Ramaphosa, who has been dogged by the allegations for months.

Ramaphosa had survived a vote to start impeachment proceedings against him over a parliamentary report that said he may have broken anti-corruption laws by keeping undeclared sums of dollars at his farm and failing to declare their theft.

Ramaphosa was re-elected as leader of the ruling ANC party last year

Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as the leader of the ruling African National Congress party in December last year.

Ramaphosa beat his rival, former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize by 2,476 votes to 1,897 votes from a total of 4,386 votes cast by party delegates from across the country.

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