South Africa’s Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, is in the middle of a scandal because he didn’t report a diamond gift that his wife received from a man in jail for dealing in stolen gems and money laundering.
This issue has added more pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to show that he’s serious about fighting corruption in the ANC, the ruling party. People are now questioning how honest top government officials really are.
Mashatile tried to defend himself on Friday, August 1. He said he didn’t know the diamond was from Louis Liebenberg, a man who’s in jail for stealing and money crimes. He explained that once they learned where the gift came from, they gave it to the right authorities.
“I told my team to look into it. Later, we found out the gift came from someone we didn’t trust,” Mashatile said. “It wasn’t even for me—it was meant for my wife. But I don’t want her to accept things from people with a bad record.”
On Thursday, South Africa’s Parliament ethics committee gave Mashatile a fine of 10,000 rands (about $550) for not reporting the gift. No one knows exactly how much the diamond is worth.
President Ramaphosa, who has recently acted against other officials caught doing wrong, said that Mashatile must explain himself. “Let’s wait for him to answer all the questions,” Ramaphosa told reporters.
Mashatile is also getting heat for not declaring a fancy house in Cape Town that’s said to be worth over a million dollars. But he said he doesn’t own it. “That house belongs to my son-in-law,” he said. “So why is it a problem?”
