Politics

South African President Ramaphosa denies ever stealing money anywhere

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2022

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has broken his silence following an allegation by a former head of the country’s intelligence agency, Arthur Fraser, who accused him of kidnapping, bribery and attempting to steal the sum of $4 million in 2020.

Last Wednesday, Fraser had filed a legal complaint against Ramaphosa in which he accused the President of “kidnapping and bribing robbers who stole millions of dollars from one of his properties” in a bid to “conceal the crime from the South African police service and the South African revenue service.”

In the court filing, Fraser, a strong ally of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, said he had ample evidence to prove his accusations of criminal charges against the President.

But after maintaining silence for a week, Ramaphosa decided to give a fire back at Fraser following a response from the presidency which did not do much to assuage the feelings of the people.

In a Twitter response to Fraser’s accusations, Ramaphosa confirmed that there was indeed a robbery at his farm in 2020 in which “proceeds from the sale of game were stolen.”

I have never stolen money from anyone. My integrity as a leader will never allow me to do so. pic.twitter.com/CTdnj25w6a

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) June 5, 2022

Ramaphosa explained that as a farmer, he frequently bought and sold cattle and people often paid in cash, but he denied that the amount stolen was anywhere near the $4m Fraser quoted.

“All this was money from proceeds from selling animals… I have never stolen money from anywhere… and will never do so.”

Ramaphosa who replaced Zuma as South Africa’s President in 2018 after Zuma was forced to step down amid corruption allegations, has been having a running battle with many of Zuma’s loyalists after his government decided to clamp down on the former head of state which led to his indictment and subsequent imprisonment.

Fraser who is now South Africa’s head of Correctional Service, got himself into hot water last year when he unilaterally ordered Zuma’s release from prison on medical probation barely months into his 15 months jail term for failing to appear before a judicial panel.

Ramaphosa has made combatting corruption a priority of his government but his efforts have been marred by a plethora of allegations of corruption against him, notably from the Zuma camp.

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Politics

Burkina Faso investigating reports of northern killings

Published

10 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A government spokesman has revealed that Burkina Faso is looking into reports that 223 people were killed by the Burkinabe army in two villages in the north in February.

The killing was first reported by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), causing a rift between the junta-led West African state and some foreign media that published the report. The HRW report released on Thursday said that the military had executed residents of Nodin and Soro, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with jihadist terrorists. The report was based on interviews with witnesses, members of civil society, and other groups.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, a spokesman for the government, said that HRW’s claims were “peremptory” and that the junta was not unwilling to look into the claimed crimes.

“An investigation has been launched into the killings in Nodin and Soro,” Ouedraogo said in a late-evening statement, quoting a statement from a regional prosecutor on March 1.

Since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s militaries took over in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023, violence in the area has gotten worse. This is because of the ten-year fight with Islamist groups related to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Attacks on Burkina Faso got much worse in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to the U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.

Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.