President Cyril Ramaphosa faces mounting pressure as the IPID report into the Phala Phala farm robbery unveils serious allegations of state power abuse and calls for impeachment.
Image: File
THE long-suppressed Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) report into the 2020 Phala Phala farm robbery has ripped open a political wound, laying bare a disturbing alleged abuse of state security apparatus and placing President Cyril Ramaphosa back in the eye of a constitutional storm.
According to the report, disciplinary action is recommended for two police officials from the Presidential Protection Service (PPS): Major General Wally Rhoode and Constable HH Rekhoto, for their alleged involvement in a cover-up.
The focus has now shifted from the initial theft to the subsequent actions of the state.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has declared Ramaphosa “irreparably compromised” following the release of the report, viewing the saga as a full-blown “constitutional crisis”.
The party is outraged by the report's findings, which ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona describes as more than a simple administrative failure but a “calculated and systemic abuse of state power” intended to shield the president.
The ATM highlighted the allegation that members of the SAPS acted as a “private enforcement unit” for the president, allegedly concealing crimes, bypassing due process, and unlawfully mobilising state resources without even opening a criminal case.
A major source of concern for the party is the confirmation that Ramaphosa personally told Major General Rhoode to “handle the issue”, a connection the ATM views as “direct and undeniable”.
This, coupled with allegations of lawlessness, unlawful cross-border operations, and the falsification of records, is viewed as the “emergence of a rogue parallel security network operating above the law”.
The ATM's immediate and unequivocal position is that a president compromised to this extent “does not deserve to be at the helm of leadership in this country”.
Moving forward, the ATM has called for a rigorous set of actions, seeing these measures as essential to prevent the “collapse of accountability and rise of executive impunity”.
The party has already written to the Speaker of Parliament, demanding the immediate initiation of impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa in terms of Section 89 of the Constitution.
Further demands include the establishment of a Parliamentary Committee through the Portfolio Committee on Police, an urgent intervention by the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, and the criminal prosecution of all implicated individuals “without fear or favour”.
The ATM is also demanding the immediate suspension, vetting, and investigation of all SAPS officials involved.
It vowed to pursue the matter “relentlessly through every constitutional, legal, and political avenue available until justice is served”, warning that failure to take decisive action now means “the rule of law will be replaced by the rule of power”.
ActionSA spokesperson Matthew George said the party was of the view that the report it fought so hard to obtain revealed a deeply concerning scenario, both in respect of the clear findings of wrongdoing and the obvious failure to meaningfully implement the recommendations contained therein.
ActionSA has written to both the Portfolio Committees on Police and the Presidency to request urgent inquiries into the conduct of the Presidency and SAPS management, particularly their failure to hold those implicated in the report to account.
“While ActionSA will not speculate on the ways by which the President appears to have evaded accountability, it is patently clear that no meaningful consequences have followed these findings.
“The silence of GNU parties in the face of such a clear case of wrongdoing is telling. It would appear that GNU parties have all been co-opted into defending the ANC and have done so in exchange for the trappings of blue lights and luxury perks.”
The EFF could not be reached for comment.
Legal expert Mpumelelo Zikalala emphasised that the recently released document is strictly an IPID report focused on police conduct, not an investigation into the President's alleged misconduct. He stressed that any determination regarding the president was still pending, dependent on the outcome of the Constitutional Court.
Zikalala questioned the independence and transparency of the process, citing the lengthy delay in the report's release. “Nothing should be hidden from the eyes of the public. We should know exactly what is happening, especially because we are dealing with public entities, public offices, and public funds,” he said.
He clarified that the IPID report targeted the police officials who conducted the investigation, stating it found the SAPS's investigative methods were improper and certain actions should not have been taken.
Zikalala said that this does not clear the president, noting that Ramaphosa still faces potential findings against him by the Constitutional Court and the possibility of other investigations.
However, he pointed out a challenge: the current administration and Parliament's composition have changed since the matter was initially dealt with, meaning those who voted against a further investigation are no longer in office.
Ultimately, Zikalala highlighted that the IPID's mandate is to investigate police conduct, not the president.
He said the report indicates a significant deficiency in the investigative skills of SAPS members in this matter, suggesting a lack of clarity on proper procedure, whether due to a genuine mistake or intentional action.
“Based on the gravity, importance of the matter and the individual that it involved, they ought to have done a much better job.”
Zikalala added that this raises broader concerns about the quality of police investigations.
“In a broader perspective from the side of our investigating officers, how well do they know how to investigate, if it were you and I, is the element of justice going to be served, or are we letting people off scot-free due to the lack of investigating skills?”
On Friday, Ramaphosa dismissed the explosive IPID report, stating on the sidelines of his Kusile Power Station visit: “The IPID report is what you would have read; I had nothing to do with it.”
He insisted that all related matters were being handled by the appropriate institutions and that “processes must play themselves out”.
On Saturday, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said, according to the Public Protector's Report, there was “no link or nexus” that could be established between Dr Bejani Chauke's “trip to Namibia and the investigation that was conducted by PPS” following the burglary at the Phala Phala farm.
Furthermore, Magwenya said the Public Protector “could not find any evidence upon which to conclude that after reporting this crime to General Rhoode, the president abused his power in utilising state resources by causing the PPS members to be deployed at the Phala Phala farm and to investigate the crime of housebreaking...”
karen.singh@inl.co.za