President Cyril Ramaphosa is currently under investigation into allegations of wrongdoing surrounding transactions involving his Limpopo farm, Phala Phala.
- The ANC’s integrity commission has rejected the leaked draft report on Phala Phala.
- He says he doesn’t know how it was disseminated to the public, as it was only supposed to be deliberated tomorrow.
- The commission does not question the fact, but the leak.
The ANC’s integrity commission has lashed out at the leak of a draft report on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s dealings with Phala Phala.
The commission rejected “in the strongest terms the possibility that he has delivered to the national executive commission through the secretary-general’s office or to the public any report on Phala Phala.”
Through a press release, the commission’s chairman, George Mashamba, said that “any report that is circulating is unfounded and has no authority or seal of approval from the integrity commission.”
He added that only the president and vice president of the integrity commission were authorized and entrusted with full responsibility for engaging the media and publishing any media statements about the commission’s work.
“We see the latest media reports as nothing more than an attempt to throw the integrity commission into disarray, undermine its credibility and legitimacy and ultimately the value of its recommendations,” Mashamba said.
This after a report was released on Friday saying that Ramaphosa had met and refused to divulge any information about the Phala Phala saga.
The draft report noted that the integrity committee found the Phala Phala incident and the events around it discredited the ANC.
The report, however, did not go so far as to recommend a sanction against Ramaphosa.
While delivering his policy review statement for the national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Nasrec on Friday, Ramaphosa is said to have finally explained the matter to the NEC.
He told the NEC meeting that the criminal charges he faced regarding the Phala Phala scandal would not stand against him.
The president insisted that the money stolen from his farm was $580,000, not the $4 million initially alleged.
He said the money came from a legitimate transaction with businessman Hazim Mustafa, who paid cash for the animals, the sources at the meeting said.
ANALYSIS | Phala Phala: Three investigations, very few facts and a president under pressure
Ramaphosa added that it was not his fault that the person who was supposed to open a criminal case after money was stolen from the Phala Phala farm did not.
In the draft report, the commission noted that the president refused to divulge details on the matter.
The report said:
The integrity commission therefore recommends that the president trust the NEC and that the NEC trust the people of South Africa on a matter that has discredited the ANC.
Ramaphosa, according to the draft report, told the commission that he could not get fully involved in the matter because acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka had issued a court order advising him not to speak to anyone about it.
The report noted that Ramaphosa later informed the commission that he was in a “dilemma” because he was now unable to discuss the issue.
The commission said that since no compromise had occurred, it “was unable to produce a report.”
“After a period of eight weeks, and with no further engagement with the president, the integrity commission noted with serious concern the continuing damaging effect that the Phala Phala issue was having on the ANC’s image,” the report read.
The commission noted that it was concerned about the continuing damaging effect that the Phala Phala issue was having on the ANC’s image.
