Mustafa may have declared Phala Phala money, but did Ramaphosa?

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal seems ever more elusive with permit issues in the spotlight and his fate rests on the Reserve Bank, former Phala Phala lodge manager Silvester Ndlovu and Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa to clear the air.

As the scandal continues to unfold, more details regarding the sale of the buffaloes and the money allegedly stolen have been revealed, making the scandal even more complex than ever.

According to the Section 89 panel, there were only two central individuals who could remove any doubt around the Farmgate saga, Ndlovu and Mustafa.

“A simple confirmatory affidavit from either of these individuals would have been sufficient to put our minds at rest,” the panel noted in the report.

“There is no explanation as to why these confirmatory statements could not be provided.”

Former South African Revenue Service (Sars) official Johann van Loggerenberg said recent indications reported that the money was indeed declared to Sars on coming into SA [as per Mustafa in a Sky News interview] which was a Sars customs requirement and Reserve Bank requirement, meant there were no Sars/Reserve Bank implications.

Van Loggerenberg said while he would rather not speculate, the scandal “really hinges on the facts, which mostly aren’t known publicly”.

“But it depends on what the purpose of bringing the cash was declared for. We don’t know what he declared the purpose for bringing the cash in as. So one simply cannot say at this stage,” he added.

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However, Sars’ Anton Fisher said the receiver could not confirm nor deny the declaration and said the Reserve Bank needed to confirm the declaration, and also explain the implications of the details of the $580 000 cash purchase.

Chief executive officer of the South African Institute of Tax Professionals Professor Keith Engel told SABC that there certainly was a Reserve Bank violation.

“Because, you have to convert that currency within 30 days and that is a violation of the law if you do not do that, which is one of the remaining elements of the exchange control,” he said.

“The second question is, well you made money from buffalo, did you pay your tax on it and did you declare it? We need to see something relating to the tax returns.”

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Mustafa said the scanned customs documents marked his arrival in Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International airport and declaration of $600 000 in cash on 23 December, 2019, which were now with the South African Police Service.

He said he brought in the money with the intention to buy a house – but, ultimately turned his sights to buffalo breeding.

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He also noted that he would testify to shed light on his $580 000 cash purchase of 20 buffaloes from Ramaphosa’s game farm in December 2019.

“When we hear there is a money laundering scandal, we are hearing big numbers like $500 million,” he said.

“It is huge amounts to be cleaned or washed and not usually the big names involved.”

Meanwhile, the Limpopo economic development, environment and tourism department said: “No application was received from Phala Phala or Ntaba Nyoni CC to export 20 buffaloes to Sudan from 2019 to date [sic].”

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