Entrepreneur Tumelo Ramaphosa claims South African banks will not open an account for his business because he is “politically exposed.”
Tumelo is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s youngest son. He is the CEO of StudEx Group, which houses several businesses that deal in cryptocurrency-based animal trade, IT consultancy, community networking and wagyu meat, according to his Instagram profile.
Tumelo Ramaphosa slams banks
“In my own county banks will not open a bank account for my business because they say I am a politically exposed [person] so they won’t touch me,” Tumelo said in an Instagram post on Wednesday (15 June).
“They call me a financial nuclear weapon… So I basically can’t even work in my own beautiful country that I love so much – the most beautiful country in the would. Decentralised finance is here to feast like a pregnant mother Polar Bear.”
Tumelo, who is based in the United Arab Emirates, did not however reveal which South African banks refused to open an account for his business.
StudEx Meat, which sells locally farmed wagyu meat, has a South African cellphone contact number. It also supplies to South African restaurants and delivers “right to your doorstep, anywhere in South Africa,” according to its website.
Like father, like son
Just like his father, Tumelo is seemingly keen on breeding rare animals. His Instagram profile is dotted with several pictures of Ankole cattle, which the President is famed for breeding and selling.
However, he has steered clear of politics – except for a single post in 2019 celebrating his father’s swearing in as South Africa’s President.
His elder brother, Andile Ramaphosa, is similarly into business, but stirred controversy in 2018 when his dealings with corruption-accused company Bosasa emerged. He denied any wrongdoing and maintained that his company and Bosasa had engaged in legitimate business transactions in Uganda.
President Ramaphosa was also mired in controversy over a CR17 campaign donation by the late Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson. The donation triggered a Public Protector investigation that made adverse findings, but the courts ultimately cleared him.
Besides Tumelo and Andile, the President has three other children – daughters Tulisa, Mashudu and Keneilwe.
Andile is the eldest and was born from Ramaphosa’s first marriage to Hope, while Tulisa is from his second marriage to Nomazizi Mtshosisa. Tumelo, Mashudu and Keneilwe are from the President’s marriage to First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe.