Ramaphosa’s buffalo buyer says he brought the cash through the airport.
Businessman Hazim Mustafa said he made the purchase through a broker, and since the buffalo are still at Phala Phala he expects a refund.
Dubai-based Sudanese business Hazim Mustafa told Sky News he bought President Cyril Ramaphosa’s buffalo through a broker working at the farm and that he had no idea the animals belonged to the President of South Africa.
SUDANESE BUSINESSMAN HAZIM GIVES HIS SIDE OF THE PHALA PHALA STORY
In his affidavit to the Section 89 Panel, Ramaphosa maintained US$580 000 stolen from his game farm in 2020 was the proceeds of the sale and hunting of game.
Ramaphosa said his lodge manager, Mr Ndlovu, informed him that Mr Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim purchased buffalo worth the mentioned sum of money on 26 December 2019.
“Mr Ndlovu, upon receipt of the money, gave Mr Hazim an acknowledgement of receipt and informed him that he would inform me about what had transpired. A copy of this receipt is attached marked “MCR 1”. After Mr Hazim had left Phala Phala, Mr Ndlovu took the money and locked it in the safe at the Bayeto Centre office,” said the President.
The businessman said he was in Limpopo at the time of the purchase to celebrate his wife’s birthday and Christmas. According to his Facebook page, his wife is a South African-born woman named Bianca O’Donoghue. In September, News24 reported O’Donoghue hails from KwaZulu-Natal.
Hazim told Sky News that he dealt with a broker and confirmed that he purchased the animals. The report raised the question of why the businessman failed to take possession of the buffalo.
The cash was stolen from a couch in the farmhouse in February 2020 – months after the purchase.
