The Phala Phala scandal has once again returned to the spotlight after former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane appealed to United States authorities to investigate the controversial matter.
Through the Busisiwe Mkhwebane Foundation, a formal request was submitted last week to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ), urging the agencies to launch a criminal investigation linked to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm.
The foundation is seeking an investigation into the origin, transportation and alleged concealment of US dollars discovered at the Limpopo game farm. It has also called on American authorities to determine whether any US financial or criminal laws may have been breached.
Mkhwebane’s intervention mirrors a similar move made by then Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen in 2022, when the party approached the FBI over concerns surrounding the source of the foreign currency and whether it had been legally brought into South Africa and properly declared.
The scandal first erupted in 2022 after former intelligence chief Arthur Fraser laid criminal charges against Ramaphosa. Fraser alleged that more than $4 million in cash had been stolen from the President’s farm in 2020 and claimed the matter involved money laundering, kidnapping and attempts to defeat the ends of justice.
Ramaphosa has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The President has maintained that the stolen money amounted to approximately $580,000 and was generated through the legitimate sale of buffalo and other game animals.
At the time, the DA argued that the FBI had a potential interest in the matter because it involved substantial amounts of US currency crossing international borders. The party also questioned how such large sums of dollars came to be stored on the farm.
With Mkhwebane now renewing calls for international scrutiny, the Phala Phala scandal continues to cast a shadow over Ramaphosa’s presidency, despite repeated denials of wrongdoing and years of political and legal contestation.