President Cyril Ramaphosa says Deputy President Paul Mashatile must answer for himself regarding an undeclared diamond gift from alleged fraudster Louis Liebenberg.
On Thursday 31 July, Parliaments Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests found Mashatile guilty of breaching the Code of Ethical Conduct and Members Interests.
This after he failed to declare the gift, which was given to his wife, in the confidential part of his financial and registrable interests register.
As a result, the committee will recommend to the National Assembly to impose a reprimand in the House and a fine of R10,000 for a first offence of a breach of the code, the committee said in a statement .
Liebenberg, a diamond dealer, faces multiple counts of fraud, racketeering, money laundering and various statutory offences. He and other co-accused appeared in court in July for a bail application .
Ramaphosa distances himself from Mashatiles woesIn an engagement with reporters after the swearing-in of Acting Police Minister Prof Firoz Cachalia on Friday, Ramaphosa was asked to comment on his deputys gift saga.
"I cant answer for him, and he has answers for all his matters, the President said.
"We will need to wait for him to provide answers to all these questions, and only he can answer them. So, let's wait for that and then we take the process from there.
Speaking to reporters at a separate event in the Free State on Friday, Mashatile said he wanted to get the diamonds value first before declaring it to Parliament.
I asked my office to please go and check this present. They did verify its authenticity and the price so that we can then declare it once we have all that information, he said.