Businessman named in Farmgate scandal willing to testify over buffalo deal with President Ramaphosa
The Sudanese businessman embroiled in the Farmgate scandal is currently cooperating with the South African authorities – and would be willing to testify in any legal proceedings.
Hazim Mustafa said he would testify to shed light on his $580,000 cash purchase of 20 buffalos from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in December 2019.
On Tuesday, South Africa’s parliament will vote on whether to launch impeachment proceedings against Mr Ramaphosa in the wake of the Farmgate scandal.
in an exclusive interview with Sky News, Mr Mustafa said from his home in Dubai: “Anything to help justice and to show the truth. I have nothing to hide.”
Scanned customs documents mark his arrival in Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International airport and declaration of $600,000 in cash on 23 December 2019.
He said the original documents are with the South African police and asked us not to film or photograph the copies that were stapled to an affidavit.
In an independent inquiry launched by the parliament in August, Mr Ramaphosa identified Hazim Mustafa as the source of more than half a million dollars in cash stolen from the couch pillows of his farm in February 2020.
The theft and stash of cash did not come to light until June when corruption and money laundering charges were filed by the president’s political rival and former spy chief, Arthur Fraser, who claimed an undeclared theft of $4m from the farm.
Though Mr Mustafa is cooperating, he is still baffled by the uproar and allegations of corruption.
He said: “When we hear there is a money laundering scandal, we are hearing big numbers like $500m.
“It is huge amounts to be cleaned or washed and not usually the big names involved.”
Mr Mustafa said he brought in the money with the intention to buy a house – but, failing that, turned his sights to buffalo breeding.
“It is a premium meat because it is free of cholesterol and the milk of buffalo is high in protein content,” said Mr Mustafa.
“I found people there who work in safaris and was asking where I can buy good buffalo and Ankole cattle – and then they said the best and the largest one is Phala Phala.”
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa
President Ramaphosa is known for his buffalo and Ankole cattle breeding, but Mr Mustafa still insists he wasn’t aware the buffalo or the farm belonged to the president until it made headlines.
“When I heard the news, it was the first time I knew he was the owner,” he said.
“Because if you saw the [company] structure, it belongs to a trust and that, I think, belongs to his family.”
The registered owner of Phala Phala farm is the Tshivhase Trust – a family trust.
It is a violation of South African law for the sitting president to be engaged in private business.
The entrance to Mr Ramaphosa’s farm. Pic: AP
In a written statement to the inquiry panel, Mr Ramaphosa clarifies that he has invested his family’s money in the farm but operates largely at a loss.
“To suggest that I undertake paid work on or through the farm is mistaken. I plainly do not,” he wrote.
Read more: Ramaphosa will not resign over scandal
This is the first real challenge to President Ramaphosa’s leadership – so close to the African National Congress’ leadership election conference, due to start this weekend.
“There are still active investigations on the matter, therefore it will not be helpful to be part of a public debate about any detail until those investigations are concluded,” President Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya told Sky News, when approached for comment on Mr Mustafa’s interview.
Elon Musk could be on track for a $1trn pay packet.
Tesla shareholders have approved the whopping financial package for the CEO – who’s already worth an estimated $491bn – if he hits a series of ambitious targets over the next 10 years.
But that $1trn figure (or £761,910,000,000) – which is both one thousand billion and one million million – is almost impossible to imagine for most people.
Even so, we have drilled down into the numbers and examined what you can do with a trillion US dollars – and it turns out, quite a lot.
Show me the money
Laid end to end, a trillion one-dollar bills would cover a distance of approximately 156 billion metres.
That could wrap around the equator 3,890 times, easily reach the sun from Earth (around 149.6 million km) or loop from Earth to the moon 405 times.
That many one-dollar notes could cover a massive area (roughly 10,339 km squared), meaning you could blanket nearly all of Lebanon or Jamaica in bills.
Spend it on sport
You could splash out on virtually all of the world’s major sporting leagues.
The clubs which make up the Premier League are relatively cheap ($30bn), and even when snapping up the UEFA Champions League clubs and the big five top divisions of Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, there’s still $858bn left in the kitty.
The four major US sports leagues for ice hockey, baseball, basketball, and American football (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL) have a rough valuation of $544bn, according to Sportico.
But then add the IPL cricket league ($120bn) and F1 ($23.1bn) and Musk still has change from an estimated total spend of $829.7bn.
Elon Musk is in the money if he hits targets set by Tesla’s shareholders. File pic: AP
Take over Tesla’s rivals
He could buy up the top 15 largest publicly traded automakers (excluding Tesla) by market capitalisation.
They would include firms like Japan’s Toyota ($275bn), Chinese automaker BYD ($120bn), and luxury brands like Ferrari ($81bn) and Mercedes-Benz ($62bn), as well as BMW ($52bn), Volkswagen ($50bn) and Ford ($48bn).
But there would still be a little change left over; the total bill would be an eye-watering $992bn.
Buy up San Diego
He could buy up every single residential property in San Diego County – valued at a total of $1trn. Seattle is just slightly out of reach at $1.1trn, according to recent data from real estate firm Zillow.
But if he wanted to buy big – there is always Tennessee. The total value of homes in the US state is estimated at $957bn. Or there is Maryland, which at $1.01trn could be bought if he can find a little more cash behind the sofa.
Sadly, he would struggle to scoop up London’s entire housing stock, which in February was valued at just under £2trn ($2.53trn), according to agents Savills.
Cities like New York ($4.6trn) and Los Angeles ($3.9trn) are also not within his budget, hosting America’s most expensive residential markets.
Do something charitable?
There is always the possibility Musk could follow in the footsteps of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who intends to give away 99% of his vast fortune over the next 20 years.
He could give every single man, woman, and child in the US a share of his cash pile. They would receive approximately $2,917.32 (£2,223.29), based on a population estimate of 342.7 million.
Although it would be roughly $14,348.79 (£10,935.20) for every person (roughly 69.6 million) in the UK.
If he wanted to give the entire globe an early Christmas present, then based on the rough world population estimate of 8.2 billion, everyone would receive $121.80 (£92.87).
Pay off the credit card
With $1trn, he could instantly rewrite history and erase debt interest payments and the government debt from dozens of the world’s sovereign nations.
Or Musk could wipe out the debts of Singapore ($1trn) or South Korea ($0.99trn) in one go, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook (Oct 2025).
But when it comes to the biggest debt-laden countries, $1trn would not even touch the sides.
The US has $38.3trn of government debt (just over one third of the total global debt pile) while the UK has a modest $4.1trn.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024