ActionSA says new evidence in an IPID report points to a broader, coordinated effort to conceal the Phala Phala farm robbery, and has asked the Public Protector to investigate officials linked to the Presidency.
Image: IOL
ActionSA says it has written to the Public Protector, requesting the reopening of the Phala Phala scandal investigation and asking her to examine whether officials in the Presidency misused state resources to unlawfully cover up the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm.
The request follows a damning report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) into the alleged cover-up of the 2020 theft at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
The report, declassified last week, relates to the theft of about $580,000 (roughly R8 million at the time), which was allegedly hidden inside a sofa at the farm.
ActionSA and the African Transformation Movement secured the report’s release through a Promotion of Access to Information Act application after suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu indicated last year that it would remain classified.
The IPID report recommends disciplinary action against Major General Wally Rhoode, head of the Presidential Protection Unit, and Constable HH Rekhoto, who is attached to the Presidential Protection Services Unit at head office in Pretoria.
They are accused of concealing the theft, conducting an unauthorised investigation using state resources, falsifying official documents, and bringing the South African Police Service (SAPS) into disrepute.
ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the party had written to Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka urging her to reopen the Phala Phala investigation.
He said the party wanted her to focus on the potential culpability of those serving in the Presidency in abusing state resources to unlawfully cover up the robbery on Ramaphosa’s farm.
“The original Public Protector report into the Phala Phala farm robbery placed emphasis on investigating the conduct of the President and members of the Presidential Protection Unit.”
“What is now evidenced by the recently unsealed IPID report is that the scope of the investigation must be significantly broadened to examine the role of all officials with proximity to the President.”
According to him, one such official is Dr Bejani Chauke, the President’s envoy for Africa, who served as a special adviser to Ramaphosa.
“IPID’s report reveals that Chauke travelled with members of the Presidential Protection Unit to Namibia using SAPS VIP resources, which he was not authorised to utilise.”
“This visit, officially framed under the guise of a national security matter, rather suspiciously coincided with the arrest of the chief suspect involved in the robbery on the President’s farm in Namibia at the same time.”
He said Chauke’s questionable official reason for the visit could only have been sanctioned by Ramaphosa in his case, and by the national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, or the President in the case of Rhoode, and would likely have required coordination with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
ActionSA has urged the Public Protector to reopen the Phala Phala investigation following the release of a damning IPID report alleging a cover-up of the 2020 robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm.
Image: IOL Graphics / Shaakirah Lagadien
“The revelations from IPID, particularly regarding Chauke, have opened a new key avenue in the investigation into the President’s involvement in a potential cover-up.”
“Until this point, questions of misconduct had been exclusively focused on members of the Presidential Protection Unit, but the findings relating to Chauke now open the door to the President’s own office being called into question.”
Beaumont said, unlike members of the Presidential Protection Unit, who have dual reporting lines to SAPS leadership and the Presidency, Chauke and other officials in the President’s office have clear reporting lines.
“His involvement in an evidently unlawful cross-border mission points to authorisations within the Presidency and constitutes evidence of a coordinated effort to conceal the Phala Phala robbery.”
He said the party’s call to the Public Protector follows what he described as a landmark outcome for South Africans, with IPID’s Phala Phala report now released to the public.
“Over the course of a year, ActionSA fought for IPID to unseal its report into the conduct of the Presidential Protection Unit. After multiple PAIA applications, delays, legal processes, appeals, technical challenges, and a letter to the acting minister of police, IPID finally released its explosive report.”
He said the party’s parliamentary team had already announced a series of steps, including a call for an inquiry by the portfolio committees on the Presidency and police to investigate the implications of a political cover-up and the failure of both the Presidency and the police to act on the October 2023 IPID investigation recommendations.
“Parliamentary questions will also be submitted to the minister of police and the President to demand answers as to why the calls for accountability contained in the IPID report have been ignored for nearly three years.”
“ActionSA will not relent on this matter, particularly as 70% of Parliament now resides within the GNU and has effectively abandoned its responsibility to hold the President to account.”
“An expanded investigation by the Public Protector is essential in light of this new evidence and its implications of a coordinated effort to conceal the robbery,” Beaumont added.
Meanwhile, the African Transformation Movement (ATM) said it expects National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza to act without bias after Parliament confirmed it had received the party’s request to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal.
Parliament confirmed receipt of the ATM’s correspondence to IOL News on Tuesday.
“The correspondence from the African Transformation Movement is received,” Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo told IOL News.
“The Speaker is currently applying her mind to its contents and will be guided by the Constitution, the rules of the National Assembly, and established parliamentary processes in arriving at any decision.”
Experts say President Cyril Ramaphosa should be held accountable for the theft at Phala Phala farm as he has failed to report the matter to the nearest police station.
Image: IOL graphics
Speaking to IOL News, ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona welcomed Parliament’s acknowledgement and called on Didiza to remain objective.
“Our expectation is that the Speaker applies her mind to the matter in a non-partisan and impartial manner, allowing space for this issue to be ventilated. It has gone on for far too long,” Ntshona said.
“We cannot have a President who has a cloud hanging over his head.”
Ntshona said the political landscape had shifted following the 2024 general elections, weakening the dominance of a single party.
“The 2024 elections changed the narrative significantly. The ANC can no longer rely on its majority to shield important matters,” he said.
He added that parties within the Government of National Unity (GNU) would face a critical choice: whether to protect an individual or uphold democratic principles.
Ntshona also questioned the apparent inconsistency in how the law is applied.
“The point is simple: why should the $580,000 found in couches be treated differently?” he said.
“What we seek is the entrenchment of the rule of law and the principle that all citizens are equal before it.”
Meanwhile, IOL News previously reported that analysts, civil society organisations and anti-corruption groups have raised concerns that accountability may be limited to lower-ranking officials.
simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za
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