RAMAPHOSA ANSWERS MKHWEBANE’S 31 QUESTIONS ON PHALA PHALA SAGA

The president’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed on Friday that the president sent a written response to the public protector's office on Friday morning.

FILE: President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: GCIS.

Nokukhanya Mntambo

JOHANNESBURG - The Office of Presidency said President Cyril Ramaphosa has answered the Public Protector’s 31 questions on the farmgate saga.

The president’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed on Friday that the president had sent a written response to the public protector's office on Friday morning.

The suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane threatened to subpoena him to testify on the alleged theft at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo where millions in foreign currency were allegedly stolen in 2020.

Ramaphosa was initially asked to respond to the questions last month but was later granted an extension.

He missed the second deadline and requested another extension which acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka rejected earlier this week.

Magwenya responded to questions on the sidelines of bilateral engagements between South Africa and the Ivory Coast.

He told journalists that the threats of a subpoena against Ramaphosa were unnecessary: “It wasn’t a case of the president taking long to answer the questions, it was just a case of he had a very packed schedule where he had a number of priorities to attend to. Unfortunately, we could not attend to this one in time. However, there was never the intention to not respond to the public protector. If anything, there was ongoing communication between his legal team and the Office of the Public Protector.”