South African president cleared of wrongdoing in scandal over $580,000 in cash stolen from his farm

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was cleared of wrongdoing Friday by a public watchdog over a scandal involving the theft of more than half a million dollars in US currency that had been stashed in a sofa at his game farm.

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka, whose office holds politicians to account, said Ramaphosa did not violate the ethics code for members of South Africa's executive over the incident, which happened in 2020 but was only revealed publicly last year.

The scandal was seen as the biggest challenge to Ramaphosa's reputation and his leadership of Africa's most developed economy. There is still an ongoing criminal investigation into the incident.

Ramaphosa said $580,000 in cash was stolen. Gcaleka said it was not part of her investigation to confirm how much money was involved and didn't give a figure.

Ramaphosa, 70, was accused of not reporting the theft properly to police in an attempt to cover up the existence of the large sum of cash hidden in furniture at his farm. He said he reported it to the head of his security detail, which is part of the South African Police Services.

In clearing him in her final report on the scandal, Gcaleka accepted that Ramaphosa had reported the crime to the head of his personal protection unit and the contention that he had acted improperly was “not supported.”

Gcaleka also said there was no evidence that Ramaphosa was guilty of a conflict of interest regarding any income from the business operations of his Phala Phala game farm in the northern Limpopo province.

“The allegation that the president improperly and in violation of the provisions of the executive code exposed him(self) to a risk of a conflict between his constitutional duties and obligations and his private interests arising from his alleged paid work at Phala Phala farm is not substantiated,” Gcaleka said at a news conference.

The investigation of Ramaphosa was prompted by a complaint made to the Public Protector's office by the opposition African Transformation Movement Party.

The incident came to light last June when the former head of South Africa's intelligence service, Arthur Fraser, opened a case with police accusing Ramaphosa of hiding as much as $4 million at his farm before it was stolen. Fraser accused the president of money laundering and breaching tax and foreign currency control laws, and attempting to cover up the theft of the cash in an attempt to hide its existence.

Ramaphosa denied any wrongdoing and also disputed the amount of money Fraser claimed was stolen.

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