“Have Never Stolen Taxpayers’ Money”

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that allegations of criminal activity against him were the result of “dirty politics.”

Ramaphosa is accused of hatching a scheme to conceal a crime that occurred at his Limpopo farm, where thieves stole millions of dollars in foreign currency stored there. These allegations were made by former spy boss Arthur Fraser, who lais criminal charges against  Ramaphosa last week.

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Ramaphosa explained at the conclusion of the ANC Limpopo conference that it was clear that this was part of a political agenda.

He claimed Fraser’s allegations were part of a plot to deter him from fighting corruption. “I will continue to fight corruption and some of these things clearly have their own political agenda and we are all aware of that, but it will not deter me from fighting corruption because I have never stolen taxpayers’ money,” Ramaphosa said.

He denied the allegations and said that his conscience would not allow him to be involved in any crime. He also told conference attendees that the money taken from his property was from cattle sales.

“This, what’s being reported, was a clear business transaction of selling animals and the amount involved is far less than what is being bandied in the press,” Ramaphosa said, dismissing the amount of $4m put forward by Fraser.

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However, Ramaphosa did not reveal the correct amount. Fraser’s allegations revolve around allegations that Ramaphosa kept millions of foreign currency at his farm. Following the theft of the funds, a plan was reportedly devised to conceal the robbery because it would have revealed the large sums of money kept at the farm.

It was claimed that a private investigation was conducted rather than an official police investigation and that the perpetrators were tracked down, some of the money was recovered, and they were compensated for their silence.

But Ramaphosa insisted: “I’ve never stolen money from anyone, be it our taxpayers, be it from anyone, I’ve never done so. I’ve never stolen money from taxpayers, my integrity as a leader will never allow me to do so.”