Ramaphosa pays R3.5m for bull named Jester

A ranching operation owned by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa paid a record R3.5 million for a Boran bull named Jester, according to African Farming magazine.

Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni Cattle Farm in the eastern Mpumalanga province bought the animal at a sale where bulls fetched an average of more than R1 million each, the publication said in a report on its website.

The highest price for a Boran bull was achieved over the weekend at Hurwitz Farming’s ninth production auction

Ntaba Nyoni “is the pride of President Cyril Ramaphosa and boasts five cattle studs including Ankole, Boran, Bonsmara, Nguni and Wagyu,” according to the ranch’s website.

Ramaphosa’s office declined to comment.

The Phala Phala farm in the northern Limpopo province, which is also owned by the South African leader, made headlines last year when it emerged that thieves had made off with at least $580 000 of cash stashed in a sofa in a house on the property. An opposition party is challenging the findings of a probe that cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing.

Read: Phala Phala: Public Protector clears Ramaphosa

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