THE conviction and sentencing of Mohammed Ameen who was caught with over half a million of undeclared US dollars has fueled African Transformation Movement's (ATM) determination to ensure that President Ramaphosa answers for the Phala Phala dollars that were concealed in couches on his farm.
Ameen aged 45, was recently found guilty after entering into a plea agreement with the state on charges of money laundering and contravention of Exchange Control Regulations - charges that the National Prosecuting Authority refused to pursue against Ramaphosa over Phala Phala.
The charges against Ameen stem from October 11, 2017, he was intercepted by South African Customs Services while seated in the international departures business lounge at Cape Town International Airport. A search of his luggage revealed undeclared cash consisting of $544,200 in American dollars and R2,955,000 in South African currency. He was en route to Dubai and was immediately arrested following the discovery.
The Phala Phala scandal broke in 2023, when reports emerged that thousands of US dollars kept at Ramaphosa’s farm were stolen during a 2020 break-in. They were apparently concealed in couches instead of being declared and banked as the legal requirements. No case was initially reported with the police, fueling suspicion about the legality of the cash. The source of the money still remains shrouded in mystery.
A panel established by then National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula found that Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office over the undeclared foreign currency. Several State and Chapter 9 institutions cleared Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing, but the ATM, among other political parties has insisted that Ramaphosa has a case to answer. It has launched a court application challenging some of the reports that found in the president’s favour.
Speaking to the Cape Times, the party’s lead Vuyo Zungula said the Ameen case and how it was handled exposed the double standards within the country’s law enforcement agencies.
"The facts are the same in the sense that both are undeclared large amounts of foreign currency or local currency above what is legally permissible. What is also known, those (Phala Phala) amounts were kept for more than the days required for people to hold them. The only difference, this guy may not have political connections whereas in the case of the president he has a vast level of power on his side."
He said the Ameen case and other similar matters made his party determined to see to it that the president is given a platform, through the courts, to answer for the Phala Phala saga.
"No one has ever been held accountable not the farm manager, not the person who brought the money into South Africa, not the president, not the police, the person that did an investigation without a docket. So where there (were) clear laws that were violated, no one has been held accountable.
“For us it's just a matter of pushing further to say there are clear cases of double standards, there are clear cases where other people are arrested, they are held accountable for having undeclared foreign currency in their possession but in this case, because it involves the president, there are double standards. That is what we view as wrong in this entire thing because it creates a precedent that would not take the country forward where the rich, the powerful, politically-connected individuals will always be exempt from being held accountable," Zungula said.
The Hawks and the NPA in the Western Cape have maintained that they had a water-tight case against Ameen.
Approached for comment on why the president was not charged, the Limpopo NPA referred the Cape Times back to a previous statement on the matter.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Limpopo, Adv Mukhali Ivy Thenga had taken a decision not to prosecute anyone in relation to the Phala Phala case because “there was no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution based on evidence contained in the docket.”
Cape Times