South Africa president accused of 'kidnapping', bribing burglars

An ex-spy chief Wednesday said he had filed a legal complaint against South Africa's president, accusing him of "kidnapping" and bribing robbers who stole millions of dollars from one of his properties.

"I have taken the unprecedented step to lay criminal charges against his excellency, the president of the republic of South Africa," Cyril Ramaphosa, former intelligence head Arthur Fraser said in a statement.

According to Fraser, burglars on February 9, 2020 broke into a farm north of Johannesburg belonging to Ramaphosa with the help of a domestic worker, where they found and stole more than $4 million.

Fraser has accused the president of organising the "kidnapping of suspects, their interrogation on his property, and bribery".

"The president concealed the crime from the South African police service and/or South African revenue service and thereafter paid the culprits for their silence," he said.

Fraser's lawyer, Eric Mabuza, confirmed to AFP that he had filed the legal complaint at a police station in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

After a career in intelligence, Fraser then became chief of the country's correctional services.

It was he who in September ordered the release on medical parole of former head of state Jacob Zuma, just two months into a 15-month jail sentence for contempt following his refusal to testify in a probe into financial sleaze under his presidency.

Zuma was forced to resign in 2018 after a series of corruption scandals.

His successor Ramaphosa has pledged to fight graft. But he too has been called in for questioning in the investigation into alleged looting from state coffers during the Zuma era.