THE Phala Phala Farmgate saga haunts President Cyril Ramaphasa.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has confirmed that the US dollars found hidden in a couch on Ramaphosa's farm were not declared.
This was revealed by the DA after it received this information directly from Sars following a request submitted in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
Hazim Mustafa, a Sudanese man, claimed in a media interview that he had complied with the requirement to declare the money to Sars officials at the OR Tambo International Airport when entering South Africa.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said he submitted a PAIA request to Sars on 7 December 2022 to obtain the relevant foreign exchange declaration forms Hazim had summitted to declare the US$ 580 000 he wanted to bring into the country. Ramaphosa and Mustafa had claimed that this was a legitimate business transaction.
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He said the DA received the response from Sars on Monday morning, 6 March, in which the revenue service confirmed that the record doesn't exist and or cannot be found.
The confirmation was accompanied by an affidavit from Siyabonga Nkabinde, a legal specialist at Sars' corporate legal services department.
In his affidavit, Nkabinde confirms: "On 17 January, 2023, he commenced engagements with various business units within Sars that he 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."
Steenhuisen said the Sars' response meant that it was now known that the South African president had hidden dirty dollars that had entered the country illegally in a couch on his game farm.
“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,” he said.
The DA stated that they intend to use this information as evidence in future court proceedings against Ramaphosa.
“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,” said Steenhuisen.
He said that they will also submit this information to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, as another reason why she must accede to the DA’s request for the urgent establishment of an ad hoc committee to fully expose the truth behind the president’s dirty dollars.
Sars has confirmed that it has responded to the request of the leader of DA regarding declaration of a particular traveler.
“The Sars Information Officer, after an extensive search for the record in various Sars Passenger Processing System and engagements with relevant business units within Sars which he believed to maybe custody of and/ or be I possession, was advised that the record could not be found/or may not be in existence,” said Sars.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said Sars' revelation was damning because it proved Mustafa's claim that he declared the money to be false.
EFF spokesman Sinawo Tambo said: "It refutes the concocted lies of Mustafa, who claimed on local and international news platforms, that he declared the money he smuggled to Ramaphosa at OR Tambo International Airport. Sars has today confirmed that no such a declaration exists, exposing Mustafa as being part of an orchestrated attempt to mislead South Africa and bury the Phala Phala Farm scandal."
He said it was now an undisputable fact that at least 580 000 US Dollars was illegally brought into South Africa and not declared to Sars or the South African Reserve Bank.
