Investigation Report on South Africa’s President Farmgate Scandal “confusing”: Churches

In the light of the cited SARB conclusions, the church leaders say, “The SACC, along with the South African public, is therefore left to piece together what it can from the select findings that were shared, which, frankly, offer very little on the investigation that was conducted for it to ensure accountability for the foreign currency found at Phala Phala farm owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa.”

They call for clarity in what was examined during the investigation, saying, “As the SACC, we do believe it would be important to make it clear what exactly the SARB investigated, beyond stipulating that the investigation was conducted in two phases.”  

In early 2020, cash between US$500,000 and US$5m was reportedly stolen from President Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game ranch in South Africa’s Limpopo province. In what has been termed the “Farmgate scandal”, neither was the alleged theft reported to police, nor had the cash been declared in conformity with South Africa’s money laundering regulations, The Guardian reported. 

Instead, The Guardian further reported, “a presidential bodyguard was tasked with tracking down the money and then possibly paying off the culprits. Local media call the scandal Farmgate.”

In their August 21 statement, SACC officials highlight what they term “expectations” of South Africans regarding the Farmgate scandal.

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“The expectation of the South African public is that the SARB would investigate the legality of any individual, let alone the President, alleged to have had as much foreign currency in cash; and if those funds were declared to determine their origin and intended purpose, with the required proof to confirm this,” the church leaders say.

They say that “the media release does not clarify this.”

“This has left us asking whether the investigation of the SARB rather sought to determine if the transaction to purchase wildlife from the President’s farm had actually been concluded, which we do not believe to ever have been the question the public wanted answered,” SACC officials say.

The church leaders in South Africa call upon SARB to “offer more insight into its investigation findings by sharing its report, in order to demonstrate that every citizen of the country is held to the same banking laws and regulations - regardless of the citizen’s standing in society.”

“If the report cannot be immediately made public, we should look forward to when it will be presented to Parliament, where the SARB normally reports,” SACC officials say.