‘Cash-in-sofa’ scandal: South Africa’s president linked to secret $580,000 cross-border operation - What does it mean
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Cash-in-sofa’ scandal: South Africa’s president linked to secret $580,000 cross-border operation - What does it mean")
File photo of South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa. Photograph: (ANI)
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate completed its findings in October 2023, but the report was only made public recently after freedom of information laws forced its release.
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been linked to an alleged cross-border operation aimed at recovering $580,000 in cash stolen from a sofa at his game farm and covering up the theft, according to a declassified report by the country’s police watchdog. The probe into the break-in at President Ramaphosa’s property in 2020 found that he had “instructed” his security head to travel to neighbouring Namibia soon after one of the suspects was arrested there.
The report also indicated that Major General Wally Rhoode and another officer misused state resources and bypassed formal police procedures to “investigate the president’s private business”. They were also accused of kidnapping, questioning and bribing suspects to ensure their silence, according to The Times.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate completed its findings in October 2023, but the report was only made public recently after freedom of information laws forced its release. Its publication has reignited the “farm-gate” scandal, which previously threatened Ramaphosa’s presidency amid allegations of tax evasion, money laundering, and violations of foreign exchange regulations.
Findings in 2023
The president's spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, underscored that findings in 2023 by South Africa’s public protector revealed Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in the peculiar case. However, Rhoode and his colleague never faced charges in any cases, prompting disciplinary action that the report of IPID recommended.
The incident came to light when the state security agency filed a complaint against Ramaphosa in June 2022, who has cast himself as an anti-corruption stalwart. The former head of the country’s State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, accused the president of burying $4 million in a sofa at his farm, Phala Phala in Limpopo province, and using his personal police bodyguards in order to hunt the thieves and buy their silence.
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Cyril Ramaphosa and officials have challenged claims that the amount involved was $4 million, but concerns remain over why such a large sum of money was kept inside a piece of furniture. The president said the cash came from the sale of prized buffalo, though he has not clarified why it was concealed in a sofa.
The trial of three Namibia nationals, two men and a woman who worked as a cleaner at the farm, began in September, with all of them denying charges of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. The court heard that the stolen money was allegedly used to purchase a Rolex watch, other jewellery, a hair salon, and several vehicles, including two Porsche cars, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, a Golf 7 GTI and a Polo. One of the Porsches was reportedly crashed just hours after being bought, and another was purchased shortly afterwards. The trial is ongoing.
