Millions of dollars in cash that were stolen at President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm hidden inside a couch were never declared with the South African Revenue Services  (SARS). This was revealed by Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen on Monday morning following his request to SARS in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). 

NO RECORDS

The man who bought a variety of game from Ramaphosa's farm, Sudanese businessman, Hassim Mustafa claimed in a media interview last year that he had complied with the requirement to declare the money to SARS officials at OR Tambo airport upon entering South Africa. But SARS confirmed to Steenhuisen that it had no records of the purchase. SARS's response was accompanied by an affidavit from Siyabonga Nkabinde, a legal specialist at the tax authority's corporate legal services department. In his affidavit, Nkabinde confirmed  that: "On or around 17 January 2023, I commenced engagements with various business units within SARS that I believed may be in the custody and or be in possession and/or have knowledge of the record requested and was advised that pursuant to the search for the record in various SARS Passenger Processing Systems the record could not be found and/or may not be in existence,' the South African tax authority said.

UNLAWFUL BUSINESS TRANSACTION 

Steenhuisen said the Phala Phala saga was reduced to a simple business transaction using foreign currency, but it turned out to be unlawful. He said SARS policy clearly stipulates that foreign currency needs to be declared upon arrival in the country but in Ramaphosa's case that was not done. "The information also adds further credence to the findings of the Section 89 panel's report that there exists prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, as well as his oath of office. The ANC last year abused its majority in the National Assembly to reject the panel's report and Ramaphosa vowed to overturn it in court,' he said.

DIRTY MONEY 

Steenhuisen said the response by SARS means that it is now known  that the President of South Africa had hidden dirty dollars, which had entered the country illegally, inside a couch on his game farm. "It now seems more likely than ever that Ramaphosa may have been in possession of these dirty dollars for a corrupt, illicit or criminal purpose. The information also adds further credence to the findings of the Section 89 panel's report that there exists prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, as well as his oath of office. The ANC last year abused its majority in the National Assembly to reject the panel's report and Ramaphosa vowed to overturn it in court," he said. However, the Constitutional Court last week denied him direct access to challenge the panel's findings. "Should Ramaphosa turn to another court in his desperate bid to avoid accountability for his possession of dirty dollars and the subsequent coverup of the theft at Phala Phala, the DA will introduce this new information from SARS as evidence that the panel's report must stand," Steenhuisen added.