EFF press statement on bribery, kidnapping and money laundering charges against Cyril Ramaphosa

7 June 2022

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) takes this opportunity to send its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Commissar Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, who lost his grandmother Gogo Emily Nomgidi Ndlozi, on the 03rd of June 2022. Gogo Ndlozi was a pillar of strength to her family, a matriarch, who lived a life characterised by a deep sense of spirituality, love, and sincerity.

At her advanced age, she decided to join the EFF, symbolising her love for the future, even though she had lived past her prime years. She will be dearly missed by all of us, and May her soul rest in perfect and eternal peace.

The EFF also sends its condolences to the family and loved ones of our late Umkhanyakude District Chairperson, Fighter Mxolisi Buthelezi, who was shot dead while on his way to attend to organisational duties on the 02nd of June 2022.

We are pained by the loss of a dedicated leader, to the gun-violence that is so prevalent in Kwa-Zulu Natal. As such, the EFF calls for an end to the assassinations which have characterised the political environment in KZN, and may there be justice for our fallen soldier in the revolution. May he rest in peace.

Lastly, we further send our condolences to the loved ones, and family of Mr. Theo Mphosi, who was a prominent businessman based in the province of Limpopo. Mphosi was a young entrepreneur, who understood that for multi-party democracy to succeed, he needed to reach out to different political formations, and for that we are grateful.

Mr. Mphosi had a bright future, and his untimely passing, has dealt a huge blow not only to his family but the entire province of Limpopo. We weep with his family, and pray that his soul will rest in peace.

The EFF is not shocked by the revelations that there was a burglary and theft at Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala Farm, and that R60 million was stolen. Cyril Ramaphosa owns game farming parties that are used for illicit financial flows, particularly, money laundering. It is not surprising that R60 million in dollar bills, were stolen from Cyril Ramaphosa's property, and was not reported to the South African Police Services, because criminals do not report crimes when their proceeds of crime are stolen.

As things stand, the President of South Africa is accused of engaging in terrorist and vigilante methods of interrogation, and subsequently defeating the ends of justice, by bribing those who were victim to his criminal actions.

No one has the right to abduct, detain, and interrogate those who are alleged to have committed crimes against them, and Ramaphosa did this without the supervision of any competent law enforcement agency, leaving us to believe that these individuals were not only bribed, but also tortured.

A bribe upon the release of those who were abducted and detained, only makes logical sense in the context of brutal torture and inhumane treatment. It is likely that Ramaphosa did not want this to be revealed to the public. Ramaphosa engaged in abduction, kidnapping, and bribery, to cover up the fact that he kept large sums of illicit money on his farm, and could not turn to law enforcement to assist him when this money was stolen.

The media statement released by the Presidency and subsequent radio interviews by Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson to downplay a serious crime must be rejected with the contempt it deserves. We know that Cyril Ramaphosa is at the forefront of corruption, including money laundering, racketeering, and fraud hidden in game farm activities.

Ramaphosa and his handlers involved in the game farming industry are illegally transacting in foreign currency, and in cash. Moreover, there is no record of these transactions, and the laws regarding limits on foreign currency are disregarded.

We are even more concerned with the collaboration between Ramaphosa and the President of Namibia, Heige Geingob, which saw Ramaphosa unleash his personal thugs to track down suspects in Namibia, after the robbery on his farm, with the aid of the Namibian President.

The President of Namibia conspired with Ramaphosa, to abduct individuals from his country, and aided him in concealing his crimes of money laundering. This makes Ramaphosa's actions not only of domestic concern, but of international consequence.

The EFF does not have confidence that the Financial Intelligence Center, the Directorate for Priority Crime, SARS, and the South African Reserve Bank, will investigate the prima facie evidence presented by former Head of State Security Agency, Mr. Arthur Fraser. Recent experience has proven that these institutions, including the National Treasury, as well as some quarters of the judiciary, are now deeply embedded in the ANC's toxic factional politics.

The EFF has however, submitted to Parliament questions to Cyril Ramaphosa in terms of National Assembly Rule 145, to hold him accountable for the unreported Phala Phala Farm burglary and the stolen R60 million. The EFF has submitted the following questions:

a) How much money was stored at the farm, and in what currency?

b) Was it the entire proceeds of the game auction, or was there additional money that ame from elsewhere,

c) Who bought the game, where and when?

d) Did he [Ramaphosa] disclose to Parliament and the executive the amount of money stored at the farm?

e) Did he alert the revenue collector of such an amount of money?

f) Why did he not report a case of theft at a police station, and chose to report to a bodyguard who is not permitted to open dockets and conduct investigations?

g) Will he open a criminal case with the police in a police station about the burglary and theft at the farm?

h) Provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the money stored at the farm was game proceeds

i) Did he ever receive a huge amount of money from donors during his tenure as deputy president and president of the country

j) Does he have other areas, other than the Phala Phala Farm, where he has stored huge amounts of money? If so, what are the details by venue and stored amounts?

k) Did he call the President of Namibia to arrange for the illegal extradition of the people who took the money from the farm?

All of these questions must be responded to honestly and we will do everything in our power to ensure that all these questions are responded to truthfully and honestly.

Like we are going to do, we also call on all the people involved to come to the fore with additional information and evidence that will demonstrate to the people of South Africa, Africa, and the world that South Africa's President is not the person whom he claims to be.

His character and way of life is defined by a double agenda and creation of parallel personalities, a fake life, and bribes to silence those who are about to expose him, as well as an unquestionable loyalty to his white handlers.

We want to warn Ramaphosa to answer the parliamentary questions truthfully and on time. According to the National Assembly Rule 145 (5) (a), a question for written reply must be replied to within 10 working days.

The EFF will not tolerate any attempt by Parliament or anyone to protect Ramaphosa from accountability. Moreover, as the EFF, we want to caution the public against the misguided, factional, and foolish so-called analysts, who want to question the credibility of Arthur Fraser, who reported this crime.

It is the highest level of establishment-journalism, to question the motives of someone who reports a crime, instead of investigating the merits of the crime itself, simply because it is a political favourite who has been implicated.

Those who question the credibility of Arthur Fraser, must have themselves checked, because it was the same Cyril Ramaphosa who appointed Arthur Fraser as the National Commissioner of Correctional Services.

Fraser was not prematurely removed, he did not resign under a cloud of scandal, and he was never implicated in any wrong-doing, as he finished his term peacefully and then left. Any attempt to now try and question his integrity, is opportunistic and baseless, and must be rejected by all sane people.

A crime has been committed and it must be investigated, and we must never allow a smear campaign to be ran against a whistle blower. The EFF is calling out all the so-called elders and leaders of the church, who pretend that they are the moral compass of South Africa, yet are quiet when Cyril Ramaphosa is implicated in abduction, kidnapping, torture, money laundering, and bribery.

The likes of Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Frank Chikane, Bishop Mpumlwana are silent, because their puppet has committed crimes which violate domestic and international laws. Where are these elders, who have been so loud in the past? These hypocrites of the church are quiet.

There is also a deafening silence from all the captured NGO's, who have been parading themselves as anti-corruption and demanding accountability only from a faction they do not support in the ruling party. Now, Ramaphosa is charged with kidnapping, money laundering, and bribery, but there is complete silence from the likes of Freedom Under Law, CASAC, and OUTA.

All of these institutions always turn a blind eye when their puppet Ramaphosa is involved in corruption. The EFF has also observed how the media has downplayed the criminal acts of Cyril Ramaphosa and made numerous attempts to divert the attention of the nation from is criminal activities. There has been no thorough investigative work, to test the President of the country and his claims that the money stolen from him were proceeds of an auction.

The EFF has it on good authority, that the auctioneering company that handles auctions on Ramaphosa's farm, is Vleissentraal. This company has been operating for around 80-years, and does not operate with cash in hand, but utilises electronic methods to divide the monies owed to them for conducting a service and the money due to the individual who has auctioned their goods or property.

The media is unable to contact this company and verify the claims of Ramaphosa, who wants us to believe that this company counted cash with him in his bedroom, like gamblers who play dice.

The media has allowed for itself and the collective intelligence of the nation to be undermined by petty lies, because Ramaphosa must always be portrayed like a saint.

It is the media, which is deliberately not doing its work, which will allow Ramaphosa to et away with these crimes.

The EFF also has it on good authority, through informants within the police, that there is pressure on the police in Warmbaad, to backdate dockets and affidavits, in order to corroborate the lies Ramaphosa has told, about his bodyguards opening a case.

This means that Ramaphosa has already begun meddling with this matter, on top of the fact that as a State President, he occupies a position which will make police reluctant to investigate this matter, because it risks their employment.

Ramaphosa had a duty to disclose to the nation that he had been robbed, as a man who should uphold the constitution and be transparent with the people of this country. In the same way he is duty-bound to tell the nation about his well-being and health, Ramaphosa ought to have told the nation that he was a victim of crime. He did not do this, because he was concealing his own criminality, and he will continue to do so in order to avoid accountability.

The President and his confused communications team, are unable to take the nation into confidence, and undermine us all with lies and concocted stories, because they want to justify Ramaphosa's thuggish behavior. At no point do any of the justifications for not reporting this crime and not telling the nation make sense. The story that he asked his bodyguards to open a case for him cannot stand, because no one can open a case on behalf of another person in South Africa.

The attempts to suggest that the President was in Addis Ababa during the time of this crime, is an attempt by him to claim ignorance of what happened on his own farm, and what was done by his own bodyguards. It is a manipulation of the truth, because there is no bodyguard that can act outside of the instruction of their principal. It therefore stands that Ramaphosa instructed his bodyguards to abduct, kidnap, torture, and bribe the individuals who stole his illegal money at the Phala Phala farm.

The EFF rejects this culture of principals, scapegoating their crimes on their juniors, when these individuals operate on instruction from them.

Claiming ignorance will not save Ramaphosa, just as the speaker of Parliament was charged for animal cruelty on her farm, even though she was not there. She was charged with violating animal rights, and pursued in court.

The President of South Africa violated human rights, by abducting, torturing, and bribing suspects, and subjecting them to his own law and not an independent judicial process. The EFF therefore calls for Ramaphosa to step aside with immediate effect, because no policeman will investigate a sitting President who has violated laws in order to avoid justice.

Ramaphosa has established himself as an individual who will go to great lengths to avoid accountability, and his continued stay as a President while this matter is being investigated, will jeopardise this case. The EFF has also assembled its legal team, which will be led by Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, to look into constitutional provisions to have Ramaphosa step aside.

The integrity of our nation is at stake, and the EFF will use all of its power to ensure that Ramaphosa pays for the crimes that he has committed in this country. Cyril Ramaphosa has portrayed himself as an anti-corruption crusader who has the divine right and entitlement to arrest and imprison everyone who is opposed to him as an individual and to the white capitalist establishment. No one, and absolutely no one in South Africa, should stand by and watch when a head of state undermines the rule of law and does as he wishes because he believes he is protected by the system.

We know there are elements in the criminal Justice system that are hell bent on protecting Ramaphosa at all costs and we will never be part of such nonsensical arrangements. This country will not go anywhere if we continue to have certain rules and laws for some people and certain rules and laws for other people.

The laws must treat all of us equally and Ramaphosa must be held accountable. We also demand that all institutions of the State, including the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Hawks, National Prosecutions Authority, the South African Revenue Services, the South African Reserve Bank, as well as all the entities and institutions, pay attention to this case and reveal for all what has been happening under Cyril Ramaphosa. We also call on all employees of the State at whatever level, and from whichever profession to never ever agree to collaborate with Ramaphosa's agents to tell lies and mislead our country.

The police, bodyguards, workers in SARS, SARB, FIC, Home Affairs, and all institutions, never ever allow to lay down your lives for a President who has never done anything to improve the lives of the people. You cannot sacrifice yourself in Defence of a Ramaphosa who few months ago was retrenching farm workers in his farms when he had millions of dollars hidden under mattresses and couches.

We further call on all political parties and members of parliament to be vigilant and act in defense of the rule of law. We have as lawmakers been condemned before for doing nothing when a criminal syndicate was turning state institutions into personal self enrichment possessions, and we cannot allow it when Ramaphosa is doing exactly the same thing.

If Ramaphosa refuses to step aside to allow open and transparent investigations to take place, the EFF will then mobilise many sectors of society to stop recognising him as a President of the Republic and will not permit him to perform any Presidential functions.

We have the capacity to do so and will do it in Defence of the rule of law. We are not factionalists of any political organisation, who can be bought with illegal money into silence.

Enough is enough, Ramaphosa must step-aside.

Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 7 June 2022