President Cyril Ramaphosa at a big game auction on 14 April 2012 in Rustenburg, where a Tanzanian pair of buffalo was among the game auctioned off to SA’s wealthy. (Photo: Gallo Images / Foto24 / Cornel van Heerden)“Political uncertainty may resurface,” said Piotr Matys, senior foreign exchange analyst at InTouch Capital Markets. “With the opposition determined to find out the truth about those funds, President Ramaphosa may face fresh calls for impeachment.”
Read: South Africa Tax Body Unable to Trace Cash Paid to Ramaphosa
The scandal — tied to the buffalo profit that Ramaphosa failed to report stolen — is now once again threatening to roil South African financial markets.
An advisory panel found last year that the leader may have breached the constitution over his handling of the theft of at least $580,000 that had been stashed in a sofa at his game farm. Lawmakers later quashed the report, scuppering a potential impeachment inquiry, though opposition members of parliament have called for further investigations into the matter.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance had asked the South African Revenue Service to confirm that the businessman complied with a legal requirement to declare the foreign currency upon his arrival in the country. The agency said in a statement Monday that it “is not in possession of said record.”
Ramaphosa is expected to announce changes to his cabinet at 7pm in Johannesburg as he secures stronger support within his party.
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