S/Africa’s deputy president caught up in dodgy diamond claim

South Africa’s deputy president defended himself Friday for failing to declare a gift to his wife of a diamond from a jailed gem dealer.

The scandal involving Paul Mashatile comes with President Cyril Ramaphosa under pressure to act against corruption among members of his African National Congress (ANC) who hold key positions in government.

The parliament ethics committee on Thursday fined the deputy president 10,000 rands ($550) for failing to declare the gift, the value of which has not been made public.

He said Friday he had not been aware the gem was from Louis Liebenberg, jailed in October on charges including theft and money laundering, and had surrendered it to authorities when he found out.

“I asked my office, can we please go and check this present?” he told reporters. “In the course of that, we found out that the person who made the donation, we’re not quite happy with.”

“The present was not for me and it was for my wife, but I don’t want her to accept something from somebody who may be questionable,” he said.

Ramaphosa last month fired his higher education minister for lying to parliament to cover up allegedly fraudulent appointments of ANC-linked figures to lucrative positions on education boards.

He also suspended his police minister over explosive allegations of corruption made by a top provincial police commissioner.

Ramaphosa said on Friday that Mashatile would need to explain himself. “We will need to wait for him to provide answers to all these questions,” he told reporters.

Mashatile is also accused of failing to declare a luxury home in Cape Town reportedly worth more than a million dollars.

The deputy president said Friday that he did not own the property but only lived there. “That house is owned by my son-in-law. So, what’s the problem?” he said.