Ramaphosa buys bull for a record R3.5 million

President Cyril Ramaphosa paid a record R3.5 million for a Boran bull over the weekend.

Records set at cattle auction

The price is the highest ever paid for this breed of cattle.

Ramaphosa bought the bull at an auction at Hurwitz Farming in Mpumalanga.

The animal will join President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni Boran stud near Badplaas, according to African Farming magazine.

The bull, named Jester, was one of many bought at the auction. The average price for bulls was just over R1 million. Another bull named Socrates was sold for more than R1 million.

The highest price for a cow at the auction was R450,000. The average price for cows was R277,000.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Inside Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala’s game farm

Record price for semen

Ramaphosa’s bull was not the only record at the auction. Twelve straws of semen from a bull called Picasso were sold for a record R88,000 each. Picasso died last year when he was struck by lightning.

In 2019, Ramaphosa made headlines when he purchased another Boran stud for R500,000.

The bull, called Jameson, weighed 940kg and was five years old at the time. It was also the brother of a heifer who sold for a record R300,000.

ALSO READ: ‘Cattle-obsessed’ Ramaphosa buys bull for R500K

Ramaphosa’s buffalo bid

The president also made headlines in 2012 when he reportedly bid R19.5 million for a buffalo cow and her calf.

At the time, Julius Malema, who had just been expelled by the ANC Youth League, criticised Ramaphosa for the bid.

This led to Ramaphosa, who was a businessman at the time, issuing an apology.

“It was a mistake. I regret it. It was a mistake to even put up my hand to do so…,” he said.

“I regret it because it is an excessive price in the sea of poverty. I belong to a community and it was one of those moments when I was blind-sighted.”

Phala Phala

Ramaphosa’s passion for owning Ankole cattle is well known. Many South Africans, however, only became aware of it after the burglary at his Phala Phala farm in 2020.

The president was accused of contravening the Executive Ethics Code when $580 000 was stolen from his farm.

Former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a complaint against Ramaphosa, accusing him of breaching the Prevention of Organised Crime Act by not reporting the robbery.

In June, the Office of the Public Protector cleared President Ramaphosa of wrongdoing in the scandal.

ALSO READ: Phala Phala scandal: Ramaphosa cleared by Public Protector