ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont says the party has written to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to release the Phala Phala report following its declassification.
Image: Henk Kruger/ Independent Newspapers
Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, announced on Monday that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's (IPID) full report into the Phala Phala farm scandal has been declassified.
Cachalia, responding to a written question from the African Transformation Movement, revealed that the report status was lifted on February 2.
However, the report remains largely inaccessible to the public, as Cachalia stated that IPID reports are typically not intended for general public consumption.
This breakthrough follows months of legal threats from ActionSA, which prepared papers to challenge the 'Top Secret' status as unconstitutional and a 'whitewash' intended to protect President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The party also argued that this is an abuse of power intended to shield Ramaphosa.
The report was originally classified by IPID under the Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS). Former Police Minister Senzo Mchunu previously defended this, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and witnesses.
The Phala Phala scandal, also known as “Farmgate”, involves the 2020 theft of an estimated $580,000 in cash (initially alleged to be $4 million) hidden in furniture at Ramaphosa's private game farm in Limpopo.
The incident remained secret until June 2022, when former spy chief Arthur Fraser filed a criminal complaint. Fraser accused Ramaphosa of money laundering, kidnapping, and bribery to recover the funds without reporting the theft to the police.
Ramaphosa maintains that the money was legitimate proceeds from the sale of 20 buffalo to Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa and that he reported the matter to his head of security.
In a statement issued on Monday, ActionSA's national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said IPID must now unseal the declassified report into Phala Phala.
He said the party has already issued papers to IPID to ensure this happens immediately.
However, IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping, who also confirmed the declassification of the report, said it should be noted that the report is not for public consumption, adding that anyone who wants access to the report must submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to “our” information officer.
Cachalia's spokesperson, Kamo Mogotsi, said the Parliamentary response clarifies that IPID reports are not intended for public release and may only be accessed through the appropriate legal channels, subject to applicable restrictions.
Mogotsi added that Cachalia does not direct or interfere with IPID investigations or findings, adding that his role is strictly defined and limited by legislation to safeguard the directorate’s independence.
“It should also be noted that IPID’s investigation pertained to the conduct of SAPS members, rather than the primary criminal matter of breaking and theft,” she said.
The IPID investigation focused specifically on the conduct of South African Police Service (SAPS) members, including Major-General Wally Rhoode, and whether they conducted an unauthorised “off-the-books” operation to recover stolen foreign currency.
The directorate is also probing allegations that SAPS members pursued and interrogated suspects in Namibia without official jurisdiction or a registered police docket.
Cachalia also stated that any legally obtained version of the report is likely to be heavily redacted.
However, Beaumont said the victory of obtaining this report will allow ActionSA and civil society to challenge both the redactions and the report itself in court if these concerns are realised.
“ActionSA was already in the process of preparing legal papers to declassify the IPID report. Legal means will be considered again if IPID does not provide the full transparency South Africans have been demanding,” he said, adding that the fact that ActionSA has had to fight this matter for more than a year shows that this GNU government has continued where its predecessors left off, protecting their own interests over those of the country.
Beaumont said the party will communicate the next step upon receiving the report.
Meanwhile, African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader, Vuyo Zungula, who has been a central figure in lodging several formal complaints and legal challenges regarding the Phala Phala report and the subsequent investigations, told a national broadcaster that the party will also submit an application for access to the report and request that the directorate be summoned to present it to the Portfolio Committee on Police.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za