The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) says it ‘cannot conclude’ that Ntaba Nyoni Estates or President Cyril Ramaphosa flouted foreign-exchange control laws in the Phala Phala matter.

In a statement yesterday, the bank confirmed it had finalised its investigation into the saga a week ago, TimesLIVE reports.

The probe came as a result of allegations made by former Correctional Services boss Arthur Fraser and complaints by numerous parties to the Reserve Bank, it said.

‘Due to legislative requirements and constraints which apply to the SARB, the report by the SARB into this matter is a private internal report and will not be made available to the public,’ it said.

However, the bank released certain information around the investigative process followed, the duration and extent of its investigation and the scope and purpose of the probe.

It found that: ‘On the facts available to it, the SARB finds that there was no perfected transaction and thus the SARB cannot conclude that there was any contravention of the exchange control regulations (the applicable regulation is regulation 6(1)) by Ntaba Nyoni Estates CC (the entity involved) or for that matter by the President. That is because the SARB has concluded that the transaction was subject to conditions precedent which were not fulfilled, and therefore there was no legal entitlement, within the meaning of regulation (6)(1), on the part of Ntaba Nyoni Estates CC, to the foreign currency. The governor will provide feedback within the applicable legal constraints to Parliament ... .’

The furore over the robbery at the farm first erupted more than a year ago when Fraser, the former head of the country's spy agency, laid charges against Ramaphosa.

Fraser alleged that the President sought to cover up the 2020 theft, in which at least $580 000 (R10.7m) of cash was stolen and stashed in a sofa at his game farm.

SARS found in March that Ramaphosa and the entities that run his cattle business are tax compliant.

Full TimesLIVE report

SARB statement