In the closing report into allegations stemming back to 2021, that President Cyril Ramaphosa personally invited a property development company to become part of the Mooikloof project in contravention of the PFMA, the Public Protector has now cleared him of any misconduct.

Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of wrongdoing in a complaint against him over his alleged breach of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) when he invited developers Balwin Properties (Pty) Ltd to become part of the Mooikloof housing project in 2020.

The announcement was made during a media briefing by the Office of the Public Protector on Thursday. Gcaleka released the findings of five reports her office had completed in the fourth quarter of 2023/24 financial year.

Ramaphosa launched the R30-billion private-sector housing project, at Mooikloof east of Pretoria, in October 2020. It is privately owned and developed by Balwin Properties after it was gazetted as a strategic project for the government.

This is the second time President Ramaphosa has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Public Protector. In July 2023, Gcaleka cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing in the complaint against him over the handling of housebreaking and forex theft at his private Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, which occurred in 2022.

Her announcement came on the back of a leaked preliminary report by the Public Protector, which quashed allegations that the President had failed to report the crime of housebreaking at Phala...