Hazim Mustafa on scandal that rocked SA – ‘I just went there and I bought… buffaloes from the farm’

22 Dec 2022

The Sudanese businessman who allegedly bought 20 buffalo for $580,000 in cash from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm has told eNCA’s Annika Larsen that ‘it was a normal business transaction’.

Hazim Mustafa is a Sudanese millionaire, living in Dubai, who was identified by News24 in September as possibly being “Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim” who allegedly paid $580,000 for 20 buffalo owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis reported.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Sudanese businessman tells Sky News he is Ramaphosa’s buffalo buyer – but how does his story stack up?”

Earlier this month, Mustafa told Sky News that he paid $580,000 in cash for 20 buffalo from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in December 2019 — but had no idea that the animals, or the farm itself, were owned by the President.

eNCA’s Annika Larsen visited Mustafa and his South African wife, Bianca O’Donoghue, at their home in Dubai, to get Mustafa’s version of events, leading up to his purchase of the buffalo, which he still hasn’t received.

‘Normal business transaction’

Speaking to Larsen about the Phala Phala purchase — and dressed in head-to-toe Gucci — Mustafa said he was surprised to be dragged into the media spotlight of an international scandal, for what he considered to be “a normal business transaction”.

“It’s nothing to do with His Excellency the President — I just went there and I bought cattle and buffaloes from the farm,” said Mustafa.

Mustafa is a Sudanese businessman who has lived in Dubai since 2011. He claims to have made his fortune from agricultural imports and exports.

“I started my business from scratch… My main business line is agricultural imports and exports, to supply fertilisers, and export [crops].”

Mustafa said he hadn’t done much business in South Africa before his infamous buffalo purchase — “only one transaction about six years ago of flower seeds”.

$600,000 in cash

However, on 23 December 2019, Mustafa arrived at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg with $600,000 in cash, which he claims he declared. According to him, he was in South Africa for his wife’s birthday.

“I know the regulations all over the world: If you declare it, you have no problem — as long as you are not smuggling,” said Mustafa, saying his plan was to buy a house for his wife in Cape Town.

Mustafa said he had also planned to buy game in South Africa and, after receiving an urgent call that he had to return to Dubai for a meeting, he decided to use his cash to purchase game and planned to return to South Africa at a later stage to go house-hunting. The buffalo, Mustafa said, were a business purchase, as they are very profitable.

When asked by Larsen why he didn’t take the cash back with him to Dubai, he responded: “It’s a headache to take it back and bring it back again. And it’s already there, so…”

Sun City

The couple were staying at Sun City in North West, and it was at the hotel that Mustafa said he first heard about Phala Phala.

“I was sitting at the hotel — Sun City — and I met one guy who was also in breeding, and he told me that the best quality you can find was in Phala Phala, which [was] not so far from [there]. He didn’t know that I had money,” said Mustafa, who added that he couldn’t recall the man’s name.

According to Mustafa, the mysterious breeder told him he would be able to purchase a larger quantity of buffalo than normal at Phala Phala as the farm was “facing some financial issues”. Mustafa drove out to Phala Phala on Christmas Day, where he says he met the acting farm manager, Sylvester Ndlovu, who showed him the buffalo in the farm’s Camp 6.

“Then we agreed on the price. I gave [Ndlovu] the money,” said Mustafa, adding that Ndlovu informed him it would take some time to arrange the documentation to get the animals through customs.

According to Mustafa — and also indicated on the receipt shown in the eNCA interview — he paid $580,000 for 20 buffalo from Phala Phala.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

He says he didn’t know the farm and the buffalo belonged to Ramaphosa until the theft of the money was reported in the media in June this year.

“When I saw the news in June 2022 that there was money under a mattress, it never came into my mind that that’s my money. I thought: What the hell? The President’s farm should be the most secure area.”

Mustafa claims he didn’t link the two, “until maybe two months after”, when Ramaphosa declared the money was the proceeds of Mustafa’s game purchase.

Mustafa said he never went back to South Africa to undergo questioning by law enforcement officials, but was questioned by the police via phone and email. When required to submit documents to the police, he emailed copies of the documents.

Public Protector’s office

He said he was contacted by the Public Protector’s office for the first time “a few days ago. The last call I had was three days ago from the Public Protector’s office.”

He claims to have had no contact with Ramaphosa or his office and has still not received the buffalo for which he paid $580,000.

“When are you ever going to get the buffalo you paid for?” Larsen asked him.

“For sure, now — after the investigation finishes — either I will go or I’ll send my legal team to negotiate with them. If [the buffalo] are not there — the quality and quantity which I asked and which I chose, then they should refund… me,” responded Mustafa. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

‘Normal business transaction’

$600,000 in cash

Sun City

Public Protector’s office