Sars confirms that Ramaphosa’s ‘dirty dollars’ were not declared

THE DA revealed yesterday that the US dollars stuffed into a couch on the Phala Phala farm owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa were not declared to the SA Revenue Service (Sars).

The DA obtained this information from Sars after a request submitted in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).

Towards the end of last year, Ramaphosa claimed that he had received $580 000 (about R10.57 million) from one Hazim Mustafa, a Sudanese national, as payment for cattle as part of a legitimate business transaction.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said Mustafa claimed in a media interview that he had complied with the requirement to declare the money to Sars officials at OR Tambo International Airport.

Steenhuisen said that the Sars customs policy on excess currency stipulated that “every person must declare” foreign currency on arrival in the country. Failure to adhere to this was an offence that may be criminally prosecuted.

To verify Ramaphosa and Mustafa’s claims, Steenhuisen, on December 7 last year, submitted a PAIA request to Sars to obtain the “relevant currency declaration forms” that Mustafa submitted to declare the $580 000 he apparently was bringing into the country.

The DA said it received the Sars response yesterday morning, with the entity confirming that “the record does not exist and/or cannot be found”.

The party said that this was accompanied by an affidavit from Siyabonga Nkabinde, a legal specialist in Sars corporate legal services department.

In his affidavit, Nkabinde said: “On or around January 17, 2023, I commenced engagements with various business units within Sars that I believed may be in the custody, in possession, or have knowledge of the record requested and was advised that, pursuant to the search for the record in various Sars processing systems, the record could not be found and/or may not be in existence.”

Steenhuisen said that through the Sars response, they now know Ramaphosa’s “dirty dollars” had entered the country illegally.

“It renders Ramaphosa’s claim that these funds were merely the proceeds of a business transaction impossible to believe because legitimate business transactions are usually not hidden from Sars inside a couch.

“It now seems more likely that Ramaphosa may have been in possession of these dirty dollars for a corrupt, illicit, or criminal purpose,” said Steenhuisen.

He said that the information added 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, and his oath of office.

The Constitutional Court last week denied the president direct access to challenge the panel’s findings.

EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said: “The revelation by Sars is damning in that it refutes the concocted lies of Mustafa, who claimed on local and international news platforms that he declared the money at OR Tambo International Airport.”

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said that the party would not be running commentary on the Phala Phala matter.