Whatever the facts may turn out to be in the case of the theft of foreign currency from Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm, it would be a mistake to view the matter only through a criminal law lens. I would guess that Ramaphosa has just as much (or even more) to fear from the court of public opinion, than from any criminal court.
Late last week, former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa, stemming from the theft of a large amount of foreign currency from Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo. Fraser alleged that the matter was not reported to the police, but was instead investigated by a team led by the head of the Presidential Protection Unit, who proceeded to cover up the matter.
This raises the crisp legal question: did the President break the law? But it also raises broader questions about the failure of the ANC to hold its senior leaders politically accountable.
When I heard about the theft, my first thought was to wonder why Ramaphosa had not bothered to lock this money away in a safe, but rather hid it in furniture. This is not the kind of thing...
