PRETORIA\u2014 South African president Cyril Ramaphosa is facing a possible impeachment threat over the \u201cFarmgate\u201d scandal.<\/p>\n
The president has been accused of covering up a $4m theft from his farm in 2020, including kidnapping and bribing the burglars into silence.<\/p>\n
A leaked report from an independent panel has found that Ramaphosa abused his position and may have broken an anti-corruption law.<\/p>\n
He has denied wrongdoing, and said the money was from selling buffalo.<\/p>\n
The panel\u2019s findings have been handed to parliament, which is set to examine them and decide whether or not to launch impeachment proceedings next week.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa is less than a month away from a conference which will decide if he can run for a second term with his party, the African National Congress (ANC), in 2024. The incident could be particularly damaging as Ramaphosa ran for office on an anti-corruption ticket.<\/p>\n
The ANC will hold a meeting with its executive on Thursday, where it is expected that the issue will be discussed.<\/p>\n
The Farmgate scandal erupted in June, when a former South African spy boss, Arthur Fraser, filed a complaint with police accusing the president of hiding a theft of $4m from his Phala Phala farm in the north-east of the country in 2020.<\/p>\n
Fraser, who is a close ally of former President Jacob Zuma, alleged that the money could have been the proceeds of money-laundering and corruption, and accused the president of kidnapping and bribing the burglars.<\/p>\n
Holding such a large amount of money in dollars could violate foreign exchange control laws.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa has confirmed a robbery, but said the amount stolen was less than that alleged, and denied attempting to cover it up.<\/p>\n
Some $580,000 which had been paid in cash for buffalo was stolen from under sofa cushions in the farmhouse, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not \u2018hunt\u2019 for the perpetrators of the theft, as alleged, nor did I give any instructions for this to take place,\u201d he wrote in a submission to the panel\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
The panel concluded that there were many unanswered questions, calling it a \u201cvery serious matter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Little information was kept about the man who supposedly paid the money for buffalo, it said, adding that he had still not collected the animals two and a half years later.<\/p>\n
The panel also said it was strange that the money had been kept hidden in a sofa, rather than in a safe until it could be lodged in a bank account.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that the president has a case to answer on the origin of the foreign currency that was stolen, as well as the underlying transaction for it,\u201d the report said. It added: \u201cThe president abused his position as head of state to have the matter investigated and seeking the assistance of the Namibian president to apprehend a suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Namibian president Hage Geingob has previously denied any involvement in the incident.<\/p>\n
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"