Day: September 29, 2022

President Cyril Ramaphosa has categorically denied that he is or was involved in any acts of money laundering at the Phala Phala game farm.

The President was answering questions in the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon.

The game farm has been under the spotlight since June this year when it was revealed – through a media statement by former Correctional Services Commissioner Arthur Fraser – that a robbery took place there in February 2020.

Fraser accused the President of “concealing the crime” – claims which the Presidency immediately dismissed.

“I have said and admitted that there was a theft at the farm and I have reported that to a General of the South African Police who later informed me that he has reported it to another General of the police. That matter obviously is under processing within the police service [and] they are dealing with it.

“I deny that there was any form of money laundering. I have said…that it was proceeds of game [farming]. I have been a cattle farmer and game farmer for a number of years – a matter that I have disclosed in my disclosures here in Parliament as well as to the secretary of Cabinet.

“That is an activity that sometimes results in the sale of cattle as well as the sale of animals…and that is a matter that takes place from time to time. So that in my view is not money laundering,” he said.

The President said he stands ready to be accountable and assured South Africans that he is cooperating with investigations and due processes related to the matter.

“I have said that I am willing, prepared and able to subject myself to all manner of investigations as well as inquires as well as processes that are unfolding here in Parliament. There is now a Section 89 process…which I have clearly and openly said I will cooperate in and I will cooperate to the fullest of my ability.

“This matter has been subjected to a number of investigations by a number of authorities. The other time I counted up to seven or eight authorities looking into this and I have said that I’m willing to subject myself to that process and that process is now underway.

“My accountability to Parliament will obviously fully culminate in the structure of the Section 89 committee that…members of the National Assembly has set up and that is also where my full cooperation will also be displayed,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa says announcements are expected to be made with regard to Eskom which government believes will take the power utility forward and entrench the resolve to surpass the current challenges facing it.

This as the country has been gripped by load shedding with power stations unable, due to several factors, to produce enough energy to serve the needs of the country.

The President revealed this at a Question and Answer session in the National Assembly in Cape Town.

“Load shedding continues to happen to the detriment of our economy, the detriment of our people. Nobody in the country is happy with load shedding, including myself and we are working on it…from cable theft to criminality to the age of our power stations. All that has combined to land us where we are but we are addressing the problem. Everybody is focused on it, the two ministers [Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe] are focused on it including the executives who have been put under tremendous pressure to address this.

“We are going to be making some announcements and we hope and trust and believe that that will then take us forward,” he said.

The President emphasised that the current challenges facing the state power utility were not planned and that government has always believed that load shedding would be a thing of the past at this juncture.

“[Load shedding] has not been the wilful and clearly planned intention of anyone that I work with.

“This has been a calamity of enormous proportions which we all admit. Just two weeks ago, to have almost 50% of our electricity generation capacity just collapsing is not something that was planned by the Minister or the CEO. It is just something that happened and which we are dealing with.

“Almost two months ago when I announced…the broader plan that we have, we obviously did not foresee that we would lose 50% capacity. In fact, what we had wanted to do was to add more capacity and to repair and to maintain a fleet that we have. And yes, admittedly, some mistakes that we have made along the way,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday work is underway to respond to the State Capture Commission’s findings and recommendations as well as stop it from re-emerging in the future.

According to the President, various government departments, agencies, State-owned enterprises and Chapter 9 institutions are some of the bodies dealing with the findings contained in the report.

The President was responding to questions for oral reply in the National Assembly.

He was answering a range of questions posed by parties represented in Parliament.

In January this year, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo handed over the first three-volume report almost four years since the establishment of the Commission at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

“When I received the final report of the State Capture Commission in June 2022, I said that I would study the report and provide a comprehensive response and a plan for implementation within the court-stipulated timeframe of four months,” he said.

According to the President, this requires consideration of some 358 recommendations from the Commission.

They range, according to the President, from taking action against alleged perpetrators and enablers of corruption to the recovery of funds, proposed reforms and prosecution.

“As a result, many of the recommendations for criminal investigation, prosecution and asset recovery contained in the Commission’s report were already receiving priority attention.”

In addition, work was underway across all stakeholders to deal with the Commission’s findings and recommendations.

“You may recall that I amended the regulations of the State Capture Commission in 2020 to permit sharing of information, records or documents with any law enforcement agency.

“This was to enable law enforcement agencies to proceed with investigations while the State Capture Commission was busy with its work.”

As a result, many of these recommendations for criminal investigation, prosecution and asset recovery contained in the report are receiving attention.

These include reforms of the intelligence services, various legislation reforms, new financial and governance reforms, capacity building, and improved information to prevent state capture and corruption.

Meanwhile, he said, this does not mean that government has been waiting for the tabling of this response plan to start the process of implementation of recommendations made by the Commission.

“Our approach is guided by the need to ensure both that the perpetrators of State Capture face the consequences of their actions and that we use this opportunity to design and implement far-reaching reforms to prevent a future occurrence.”

He believed it was important to view the State Capture Commission report as a great opportunity to deal with what happened in the past.

“But more importantly, to also deal with what should happen in the future in the form of preventing State Capture in any shape or form re-emerging in our country.”

Source: South African Government News Agency