Maj. Gen. Wally Rhode. (Photo: DA)
The report on the sensational theft on Phala Phala, pres. Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm contains serious findings regarding members of the presidential protection unit.
The findings contained in the report are a scandal for Maj. Gen. Wally Rhoode, the unit’s head, and his members, says Michael Beaumont, national spokesperson for ActionSA.
“Yet Rhoode remains in his position without being held responsible, regardless of clear evidence of wrongdoing.”
ActionSA obtained and published the report after a year-long struggle. This comes after Beaumont said on Wednesday that the Independent Police Investigation Directorate’s (Opod) latest request for a postponement for the publication of the report shows Prof. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia misled Parliament when he said the report was declassified.
The report was completed in October 2023. At the bottom of the 14-page report, Opod says it is waiting for the report regarding when disciplinary steps were instituted and how the issue was finalized to comply with the provisions of the Opod Act.
According to the report, Rhoode and Const. Hlulani Rekhoto, a member of the protection unit
- refused to be part of Opod’s investigation regardless of the fact that they are members of the police;
- became involved in an illegal investigation, without opening a file or reporting their actions through the proper chain of command to the national police commissioner;
- falsified documents related to operations of the presidential protection unit to ensure the investigation was funded by the police;
- incurred irregular expenses by having managers travel from Pretoria to assist them with the investigation in Cape Town, despite the fact that such resources were available locally;
- used the president’s name during the investigation to pressure law enforcement officials into complying with their irregular requests;
- questioning suspects without informing them of their constitutional rights; and
- facilitated an illegal meeting with officials of the Namibian government and Dr. Benjani Chauke, presidential envoy for Africa, illegally involved in it.
Allegations in the report include that police members committed offenses after the theft at the president’s farm, including that they covered up a burglary and the theft of cash and failed to report the matter to a police station as required by police procedures.
The entrance to pres. Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm Phala Phala. (Photo: Provided)
It is further argued that they used state resources, including members of the presidential protection unit, to investigate the president’s private affairs in an attempt to get the president’s money back without opening a case; that they kidnapped and interrogated suspects because of the theft on the president’s farm and that they tried to bribe suspects to cover up the events on February 9, 2020 at Phala Phala.
According to the report, a complainant claims that gen. According to a report on Fannie Masemola, the national police commissioner, and his predecessor Khehla Sitole News24 have information on the issue and that Roode believes gen. Peter Jacobs, the head of crime intelligence, asked for manpower and resources to investigate the dollar heist.
Beaumont says despite the fact that these findings have been known for almost two years, police leaders and the president must now account for their failure to act against Rhoode, Rekhoto and Chauke. “This failure, in the president’s case, is compounded by reports that his name was repeatedly mentioned in the investigation to discourage its irregular nature.”
Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa. (Foto: Facebook/ Cyril Ramaphosa)
ActionSA’s parliamentary team will write to the portfolio committee on the presidency and police to urgently investigate the failure to implement the recommendations of the Opod report, as well as the apparent abuse of executive authority.
Beaumont says the battle to obtain the report has been going on for a year while he accuses Opod of delaying ActionSA’s Paia applications by citing technical issues, such as email systems being switched off; and denied appeals.
“It was only after ActionSA prepared court documents that Cachalia declassified the report. Even then, follow-up applications were ignored, until the report was finally received yesterday.”
According to Beaumont, ActionSA pursued the issue of this report because the principle that every South African must be equal before the law is at the heart of the country’s democracy. “This principle has been undermined by successive ANC governments and is now further compromised by a government of national unity to protect the ANC.”