South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has been exonerated of charges of misconduct and betraying the honour of his office in a burglary scandal that almost cost him his job last year.
Recall that in June 2022, a former head of intelligence lodged a complaint accusing Ramaphosa of concealing the theft of bundles of dollars exposed by burglars under the cushions of a sofa in one of his properties in 2020.
Ramaphosa was also accused buying the silence of burglars who had stumbled upon these sums, leading to suspicions of money laundering and corruption.
But following a probe by the Ombudsman, Kholeka Gcaleka determined that in this case the behaviour of the 70-year-old Ramaphosa was not contrary to the Constitution.
“In the light of the standards imposed by the executive’s code of ethics, there is no basis for concluding that the President has breached” the relevant provisions of the law, “including during the period following the alleged theft of dollars”, Kholeka Gcaleka told the press in Pretoria.
Ramaphosa has always denied any dishonesty in this affair, stating that the money, $580,000 in cash, came from the sale of buffalo from his farm, Africa News said.
