South African president grilled in Parliament on farm theft

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was confronted in Parliament Thursday by opposition politicians who pressed him to step down from office pending a criminal investigation into allegations that he covered up a theft from his rural game farm. Parliament members from the Economic Freedom Fighters were forcibly removed from the legislature’s session for repeatedly interrupting Ramaphosa as he presented the annual budget for his office.  The theft in 2020 of a large amount of cash in U.S. dollars from his ranch in the northern Limpopo province was alleged in a criminal complaint filed this month by former intelligence chief Arthur Fraser. Ramaphosa later confirmed the burglary and said the cash was from selling game animals on his farm.