The long-awaited public protector’s report on Phala Phala has largely cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa while heaping most of the blame for the debacle on his head of protection services, Maj-Gen Wally Rhoode.
The outcome is a significant victory for Ramaphosa, who has faced the threat of impeachment proceedings since the scandal broke last year.
Acting public protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka effectively cleared the president of wrongdoing in her report, compiled after a complaint from African Transformation Movement leader Vuyolwethu Zungula.
His complaint came after former spy boss Arthur Fraser opened a criminal case against Ramaphosa and Rhoode in June last year following a break-in at the president’s farm near Bela Bela, Limpopo, where cash in the form of dollar bills was stolen from its hiding place inside a couch.
Fraser claimed there was a cover-up of the theft and that suspects were abducted and tortured, and he put the president at the centre of the imbroglio.
Gcaleka’s preliminary report, sent to interested parties on Friday, found no evidence that Ramaphosa violated the ethics code.
She also established no evidence to support allegations that Ramaphosa’s financial interests in game and cattle farming at Phala Phala exposed him to the risk of a conflict between his official presidential responsibilities and his private interests.
The Sunday Times understands that Gcaleka did not find any truth to the allegation that Ramaphosa was receiving remuneration or had any form of paid work relating to the farm while being a member of the executive. However Rhoode, who has entrenched himself as Ramaphosa’s trusted lieutenant, was found to have acted improperly for conducting an “unofficial criminal investigation” in pursuit of the burglars.
The outcome is a major victory for Ramaphosa as his opponents both within and outside the ANC were banking on Gcaleka’s report to force him out of office.
The next hurdles for the president are the South African Reserve Bank investigation into the matter and the criminal case that former spy boss Arthur Fraser reported to the police
This is the president’s third victory in the battle that has threatened to end his political career. The first was when parliament voted against the establishment of an impeachment committee after a section 89 panel report found he had a case to answer. Another victory came early in the week when the South African Revenue Service affirmed that Ramaphosa and the Ntaba Nyoni Estate — which runs the Phala Phala farm — were tax compliant.
The next hurdles for the president are the South African Reserve Bank investigation into the matter and the criminal case that Fraser reported to the police.
Gcaleka has ordered national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola to ensure that appropriate action is taken against Rhoode and Sgt Hlulani Rekhoto, who helped him, for misconduct.
Gcaleka said Rhoode had failed to inform the then commissioner, Gen Khehla Sitole, whom he reported to directly, about the break-in and theft. Rhoode told Gcaleka that he had reported the matter to Sitole’s deputy, the late Lt-Gen Sindile Mfazi. However, no proof of this was given to Gcaleka’s office, and there was no case docket to assist with any official investigation by the crime detection service.
It was found that Rhoode assembled his own investigation team and embarked on an unofficial criminal investigation during which he interviewed suspects and witnesses, conducted surveillance and travelled to Cape Town and Namibia in search of the culprits.
Rhoode told the public protector that when he informed Mfazi about the crime, Mfazi asked him to gather preliminary information about the incident and potential suspects to determine whether there was any threat to the president’s safety. Once that had been done Mfazi would institute a full-scale investigation.
Rhoode then pulled in Rekhoto and Trevor Fredericks, a former police officer, to assist him with his investigation and interview the housekeeper Floriana Joseph, who had discovered the dollars stashed in one of the cushions in a sofa.
According to evidence submitted to Gcaleka, after finding the cash, Joseph had alerted her brother Imanuwela David, who then conspired with his Namibian friends Urbanus Lomboleni Shaumbwako, Petrus Fikeipo Muhekeni, Erkki Shikongo and Petrus Afrikaner to break in and steal the money.
The Sunday Times understands that Rekhoto, who had compiled a report for Rhoode, told Gcaleka that David had admitted during an interview at Phala Phala that he and his friends had broken into Ramaphosa’s house and stole the money. David had told them that he had only been given R30,000 as his share in the loot.
According to the public protector, the information Rhoode and Rekhoto had gathered placed a legal duty on them, especially as members of the police, to report the crime to their superiors.
Rhoode declined to comment and said he had not seen the report.
Yesterday Ramaphosa declined to comment when approached by a journalist while he was on the campaign trail in KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal.
In terms of the public protector’s rules, once the preliminary report has been issued the less said the better because she still has to issue a final report
— President Cyril Ramaphosa
“In terms of the public protector’s rules, once the preliminary report has been issued the less said the better because she still has to issue a final report.”
His office confirmed that he was in possession of the preliminary report and maintained his innocence in the debacle. His spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “We note the report. As stated before, we reiterate that the president did not participate in any wrongdoing, nor did he violate the oath of his office. Instead, the president was a victim of a crime that he duly reported to the relevant authorities.”
Leader of the opposition John Steenhuisen said he was concerned at what he called a number of inconsistencies and contradictions in the leaked report.
“There are already a number of contradictions between a number of testimonies by various people that are very obvious. I also had the suspicion that Mr Rhoode would be made the fall guy for this Phala Phala matter and I disagree fundamentally with the findings of the public protector that the president did not have a conflict of interest.”
Steenhuisen said it was clear in Ramaphosa’s own version of events that there was a conflict of interest, because he used the presidential protection service to probe the matter.
Zungula said: “We do feel strongly that the report that was penned by the section 89 independent panel holds more weight in that it was done by independent people, including retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo.
“Even when it comes to capacity, experience and independence, because they are not looking for promotions or to be rewarded for anything because they are retired. We believe that they covered almost everything that needed to be covered when it comes to the risk of the conflict of interest and the issue of the paid work.”
Zungula, who intimated that Gcaleka — who is acting in the post due to the suspension of Busisiwe Mkhwebane — was hoping her appointment would be made permanent. He said the ATM would study the report and meet to discuss its response within the stipulated period.
Political analyst professor Mcebisi Ndletyana said the findings appeared to be sound but he would like to read the entire report to get an understanding of what Gcaleka had based her conclusions on.
“He went to auctions to buy and claimed that it was his hobby; I am interested to find out how the public protector characterises that, or defines that, and whether he used his office to benefit from it.”
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