Johannesburg - Leader of the United Democratic Movement, general Bantu Holomisa, has accused the Hawks of concealing information given to it by the former head of state's security agency, Arthur Fraser.
On June 1, Fraser opened a case against President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Rosebank police station. At the time, Fraser revealed the theft of dollars from President Cyril Ramaphosa's farm in Bela Bela. However, it is reported that a few weeks later, Fraser furnished the Hawks with additional information about the real source of these dollars after Ramaphosa admitted that the money was from a sale of game. However, it would seem that was not the case.
This comes after opposition parties in the National Assembly were given until this Thursday to make their submissions to the independent panel, while President Ramaphosa was given 10 days to respond to the impeachment allegations being probed by an independent panel related to the robbery on his Limpopo farm, Phala Phala.
On Monday, Holomisa wrote to the chairperson of the Section 89 Inquiry, Judge Sandile Ngcobo. The work of the Section 89 Inquiry tasked with determining if there is an impeachable case against President Cyril Ramaphosa on the issue of Phala Phala started last Wednesday. The three-member panel is tasked with determining President Cyril Ramaphosa's involvement in the Phala Phala farm and the concealment of the theft and source of the stolen money.
In a statement issued by UDM on Monday, Holomisa says former head of state security agency, Arthur Fraser, furnished the Hawks with additional information about the origins of the million in foreign US dollars, which were stolen in the Phala Phala farm robbery, which took place at the President's farm in February 2020. Holomisa said his letter to the chairpersons of the panel was in line with the invitation made by the panel for individuals to submit information they may have in their possession that may help the panel in its work.
"In line with the invitation for any member of the National Assembly to submit information in terms of the timetable for the conduct of the preliminary inquiry initiated by the National Assembly to remove the President in terms of the Section 89 of the constitution, I would like to submit the attached letter purportedly written to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) by Mr Arthur Fraser on 23 June 2022. From reading it, one concludes that Mr Fraser has provided the Hawks with additional, rather explosive information, regarding the whole matter in addition to his now well-publicised affidavit on 1 June 2022," Holomisa says in his submission to the chairperson of the panel.
Holomisa said, according to Fraser's affidavit, the claim made by Ramaphosa that the source of US dollars as being from the sale of game remains disputed and possibly untrue.
"You will see in the letter that one of the President's advisers was instrumental in illegally bringing large sums of US dollars into South Africa for both he and the President after returning from the trips he undertook on behalf of President Ramaphosa to various countries, inter alia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco and Equatorial Guinea.
Holomisa said if these allegations are true, it would show that Ramaphosa is in much more trouble than he admits, as the transportation of foreign currencies into the country is a very serious offence.
"It is clear that the veracity of the information provided and the allegations made in the letter should be investigated by the independent panel. The Hawks should shed some light on what has transpired in terms of their actions taken subsequent to receiving this additional information. Such steps will surely be of assistance to the Independent Panel and its work," he said.
The Star