CAPE TOWN/JOHANNESBURG - South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) Governor Lesetja Kganyago said he can’t divulge information on the Phala Phala investigation to Members of Parliament just yet.
Kganyago said this could undermine the investigation into allegations that President Cyril Ramaphosa violated exchange controls, by keeping foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm.
On Wednesday, the standing committee on public accounts called for answers.
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Kganyago said the central bank has been inundated with requests for information on Phala Phala from several parties.
One of the parties is the Economic Freedom Fighters, which has demanded answers from Kganyago on whether exchange controls were violated by the President.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also written to the Reserve Bank with its own list of questions.
“Once we get any report of any possible violations of foreign exchange control regulations, we engage with the particular party. When I say party, I mean whether it’s an individual, or a company. And it is practice that we do not comment on any of our investigations because we do not want to undermine the investigations,” Kganyago said.
The committee has agreed that the Reserve Bank should return to Parliament, as soon as possible, to get a detailed briefing on the matter which is of public interest.
9 OPPOSITION PARTIES AGREE ON PANEL TO PROBE
At least nine opposition parties in Parliament have agreed on a panel, to look into Ramaphosa’s alleged indiscretions.
Former judges Mogoeng Mogoeng and Dikgang Moseneke are among those touted by the parties to probe the Phala Phala saga.
Opposition parties have since intensified efforts to have Ramaphosa held accountable for the saga in a multiprong approach, including legal action.
Mogoeng, Moseneke, Bernard Ngoepe and Yvonne Mokgoro are the names that will be submitted to the parliamentary section 89 independent panel, which will investigate Ramaphosa’s involvement in the cover up at his game farm.
The names will be submitted by opposition parties in Parliament, including the DA, EFF, UDM and IFP.
The panel will also investigate the police, State Security and other state institutions alleged involvement in what is claimed to be a cover up. But the inclusion of Mogoeng on the ad hoc panel may raise some eyebrows, after the former chief justice announced his political ambitions earlier this month.
The all African Alliance Movement hinted that Mogoeng would be its president when the new party takes a shot at the 2024 general elections. Mogoeng has remained mum on these plans.
