Picture: EFF leader, Julius Malema/Google
By OBAKENG MAJE
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema came out guns blazing and call on the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa to ‘step down’ with immediate effect.
This comes after South Africa was put on a ‘grey list’ by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for falling short of certain international standards for the combating of money laundering and other serious financial crimes.
The FATF is a global body that aims to tackle global money laundering and terrorist financing. Now, Malema alleged that Ramaphosa is indecisive and corrupt. He further said, South Africa is an ‘anchorage’ of money laundering.
“Ramaphosa is indecisive, corrupt, and a money launderer, who stuffs dollars in his mattress and sofas. Today, South Africa is grey-listed because we have become a haven for money laundering and terrorism funders.
“What if the money that was in the sofas of the president was going to finance terrorism, however, we would never know. We would have known the purpose of that money, if it was declared at the Reserve Bank, SARS, or being banked,” he said.
Malema further said, atleast the bank will ask, where the money come from and what was its purpose. He added, so only the funder of terrorism will stuff money in the couches and matrasses.
“We are grey-listed solely because of the president of South Africa, who must step down on 20 March 2023 when we shut down the country. Only when we stand up and occupy the streets, the people in government will start taking this matter seriously.
“We demand that the president must resign, we are in this mess because of him,” said Malema.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa in his weekly newsletter said: “South Africa’s grey-listing is an opportunity to strengthen the fight against financial crimes. South Africa has been a member of FATF for the last 20 years due to our commitment to fight these criminal activities both at home and across the world.
“The grey-listing of South Africa has caused much concern about the state of our financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and investment environment. The situation is concerning but less dire than some people suggest.”
Ramaphosa said they have gone through a rigorous process of addressing the issues that FATF has raised with them. He said the fundamentals are in place and they know what they need to do to get off the grey list.
“We are determined to do this as quickly as possible. This is important not only for our international standing but also for our own ability to fight these crimes in our country.
“Since the dawn of democracy in 1994 we have sought to build credible, independent institutions and implement effective laws to deal with complex financial crimes of this nature,” said Ramaphosa.
The Guardian 