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Ramaphosa reveals to ANC NEC how much money was stashed at his Phala Phala farm

Ramaphosa reveals to ANC NEC how much money was stashed at his Phala Phala farm
Queenin Masuabi
By Queenin Masuabi
12 Nov 2022
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The ANC National Executive Committee meeting kicked off with party leader Cyril Ramaphosa attempting to come clean about the details of the controversial burglary which took place at his Phala Phala farm in February 2020.

The first day of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) gathering saw party president Cyril Ramaphosa attempt to demistyfy some of the information circulating around the Phala Phala farmgate scandal. 

The scandal relates to a the theft of a large sum of money stolen from Ramaphosa’s game farm Phala Phala in Limpopo aroun 9 February 202o.

The Presidency confirmed the theft, saying the money was the “proceeds from the sale of game were stolen”. Ramaphosa is a keen breeder and trader in buffalo and Ankole cattle, and the stolen cash is believed to be related to the purchase of a red oryx. 

The matter has been a big talking point in the ANC since it became public knowledge and has led to Ramapbosa being hauled before the party’s Integrity Committee. However, Ramaphosa has remained tight- lipped about the details of the incident, even to the ANC disciplinary body. 

Read in Daily Maverick: “Ramaphosa pleads innocence, says charges laid against him are politically motivated” 

Now several sources told Daily Maverick independently that Ramaphosa told the NEC the following during his political report on Friday that: 


  • there was around $480 000 which was kept at the farm and reports that the amount was $4 million were incorrect;

  • despite having stored the money at the farm, they were tax compliant and he had not broken the law in any way;

  • he had already disclosed the names of individuals who had bought cattle from his farm along with the amounts they paid to the investigating authority as well as to the South African Reserve Bank;

  • he was only receiving a salary from the State and that he was not being remunerated in any way through the farm; he believed that informing the incident to his head of security Wally Rhoode was sufficient at the time and that’s why he didn’t report the case to the police directly; and he had not used state resources to guard his farm.


 Daily Maverick understands that this disclosure was however not welcomed by all NEC members with the likes of Tony Yengeni and Tandi Mahambehlala heavily criticising Ramaphosa and suggesting that he step aside.  They form part of the ANC faction which is closely aligned with former president Jacob Zuma.



Ramaphosa’s close allies –  Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor and Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu fiercely defended him.

The Phala Phala forex scandal first became public knowledge when former spy boss Arthur Fraser alleged earlier in 2022 that Ramaphosa was involved in illegal activities surrounding a burglary at his farm. He claimed Ramaphosa had breached the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, and that large undisclosed sums of US dollars were removed from the Limpopo farm by burglars.

Instead of reporting the matter to the police, Ramaphosa has been accused of having secretly instructed the head of the police’s Presidential Protection Unit, Major-General Wally Rhoode, to investigate the matter. Rhoode’s investigation led to the belief that the perpetrators were linked to a domestic worker at the farm.

Fraser alleged that the suspects were caught, kidnapped and interrogated, and he believed crimes of defeating the ends of justice, kidnapping and money laundering were committed. Ramaphosa is also alleged to have paid off suspects, including his domestic workers, R150,000 each to not reveal the incident to anyone after the offenders had been traced and apprehended. 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-11-what-lies-beneath-excavating-phala-phala-investigations-and-their-runup-from-mud-and-murk/

Ramaphosa’s political report

Some of the concerns regarding Ramaphosa’s Political Report which he will be delivering at the party’s national conference in a few weeks was that it does not include a clear solution for the country’s energy crisis. 

Some members of the NEC who criticised Ramaphosa said it was problematic because they have no feedback for their constituencies which could put them in a compromising situation.

“The NEC was happy about his assessment of the economic situation but said there were no concrete plans around the energy crisis. People were attacking him because he does not have a plan,” a source said.  

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Waking up to Stage 6, now Eskom execs are fighting to fend off Stage 8 power cuts”

The Eskom crisis has led residents and businesses to suffer long hours without electricity during rolling blackouts. Eskom placed the country on different stages of power cuts for the last few months. 

Government and the ANC have sat in many meetings as a means to resolve the matter but not much has been changed and no immediate plan of action has been announced. 

This has resulted in Ramaphosa receiving backlash from citizens and even from former president Thabo Mbeki. 

The NEC meeting continues over the weekend. DM

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