South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in a preliminary report into a cover-up scandal that has tarnished his reputation, according to local media reports.
The Public Protector said it has notified implicated parties of the preliminary findings of its probe over the theft of large amounts of cash from Ramaphosa’s luxury Phala Phala farm – something the president is accused of having attempted to conceal.
Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya said on Saturday the president received the report, details of which have been leaked to local media.
“As stated before, we reiterate that the president did not participate in any wrongdoing, nor did he violate the oath of his office,” Magwenya said according to South African news outlet News24. “Instead, the president was a victim of a crime that he duly reported to the relevant authorities.”
The scandal, which erupted in June, involved about $500,000 in cash that Ramaphosa acknowledged were stolen from beneath sofa cushions at his ranch.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
