Watchdog 'clears' South African President Ramaphosa in scandalous cover-up Yet, the problem hasn't been resolved for the preside...
Watchdog 'clears' South African President Ramaphosa in scandalous cover-up
Yet, the problem hasn't been resolved for the president, as there is still an open police inquiry.
According to local media sources, watchdog has exonerated President Cyril Ramaphosa of any misconduct in a preliminary investigation into a cover-up scandal that has damaged his reputation.
The theft of significant sums of money from Ramaphosa's opulent Phala Phala farm, which the president is suspected of trying to hide, was the subject of an investigation by the Public Protector, which claimed to have informed those involved of the preliminary findings.
The study, the specifics of which were leaked to the local media, was received by the president, according to Ramaphosa's spokesman Vincent Magwenya, on Saturday.
According to South African news site News24, Magwenya remarked, "As indicated earlier, we maintain that the president did not participate in any crime, nor did he break the oath of his office. The president was indeed a victim of a crime, which he properly reported to the appropriate authorities.
Around $500,000 in cash, which Ramaphosa acknowledged was stolen from his ranch's couch cushions, was at the center of the incident, which broke in June.
The president, who claimed the funds were payment for buffaloes purchased by a Sudanese businessman, was charged with neglecting to report the incident to the police, abusing his position, and creating a conflict of interest because of the incident.
According to excerpts published by multiple media sites, the study exonerates him but finds that the director of the presidential protection unit, to whom Ramaphosa reported the crime, behaved unlawfully by looking into the situation on his own rather than contacting the police.
The conclusions, which the left-wing opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party referred to as "nonsensical," will offer Ramaphosa some relief from the accusations that have followed him around for months.
The controversy has jeopardized his chances of winning a second term after the elections next year and nearly cost him his job in December when he narrowly avoided a parliamentary vote that might have started the removal process against him.
But for the president, that won't be the end of the matter.
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