Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - The US Embassy in Pretoria has hinted that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) will not interfere with the South African law enforcement authorities in their investigation of the Phala Phala burglary saga.
In June, the DA outlined an elaborate plan to hold President Cyril Ramaphosa accountable for his “failure” to lawfully report the theft of millions of US dollars stolen from his farm in Waterberg, Limpopo, two years ago.
Leader of the opposition party John Steenhuisen publicly introduced what he termed, “nine steps to holding President Ramaphosa accountable”, which included writing to the FBI asking it to investigate the matter.
However, it appears the FBI will not make any moves on it.
US Embassy spokesperson David Feldmann acknowledged receiving the request from the DA, but declined to indicate whether the FBI had taken any steps in investigating the matter.
In his response to detailed questions sent to the embassy, Feldmann simply summarised the Phala Phala issue as a “South African Government” investigation.
“We acknowledge receipt of the letter mentioned in your email. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on a current investigation being carried out by the South African government,” Feldmann told the Pretoria News.
Steenhuisen announced that they had approached the FBI in order for the entity to investigate allegations of possible money laundering involving Ramaphosa.
He also requested that the FBI consider investigating the source of the funds, and whether the money was brought into South Africa legitimately and declared to the appropriate authorities.
“We have recommended that the ledgers or journals which would have recorded the alleged sale of wild game at auction be requested from the president, to determine the identities of those involved in the suspicious cash transactions.
“A cash transaction within South Africa involving $4 million is deeply suspicious, and more so since the cash was then hidden in furniture, and its theft was investigated off the record and covered up,” said Steenhuisen in June.
The DA leader said he had lost faith in the SAPS because some senior officers were implicated in the Phala Phala matter.
There was, however, some backlash from political analysts and the ANC to the DA’s approach to the FBI.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe at the time slammed the DA’s announcement that it had written to the FBI to investigate matters relating to a theft at Ramaphosa’s farm as a “crude publicity stunt”.
“It is clear that the DA has a greater interest in sensationalist headlines than in due process. South Africa is a sovereign country with its own Constitution, laws, law enforcement agencies and regulatory institutions,” he said.
“It is therefore bizarre that the DA has sought to involve an agency of a foreign state in the investigation of events alleged to have taken place on South African soil.”
The FBI has previously joined forces with South African law enforcement in bringing down international criminal syndicates.
Last October, a team consisting of the Hawks, the FBI, the US Secret Service and Interpol netted eight foreign nationals who were linked to a R100 million international internet scam.
Pretoria News