SA Reserve Bank (SARB) governor Lesetja Kganyago has said it would be "unfortunate" if the bank's probe of $580 000 in cash stolen from President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala game farm created the impression it was "okay to launder money".
The money, which the bank has described as a "security deposit" for buying 20 buffalo, was stolen from under a couch cushion where it had been hidden in Ramaphosa's private residence in February 2020.
The central bank governor was briefing Parliament a week after the SARB announced an internal probe had found no evidence that Ramaphosa or Phala Phala had broken foreign exchange laws.