Africa-Press – South-Africa. In light of revelations that there was a robbery at Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo two years ago, there are some critical questions that need to be asked of former spy boss Arthur Fraser, Police minister Bheki Cele, the Presidential Protection Unit and the State Security Agency, argues Lumko Mtimde.
When full transparency is limited by legal advice and processes, that compels one to be mum to allow investigations and access to information, citizens become disadvantaged in assessing for themselves truth or otherwise of a story.
In such situations, society gets subjected to several opinions with limitations from analysts, speculations, “independent” investigations and the media. The accused suffers the consequences of stories told based on one side of facts.
AmaBhungane’s report on the theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm relied on information from the deposed affidavit by Arthur Fraser in the case he opened, interviews with a few of affected parties but there was no version from the farm manager, President Cyril Ramaphosa, SAPS Presidential Protection Unit (PPU), or the States Security Agency for example.
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As a result, the referred evidence in the Fraser case file, including an edited video from security camera footage, is a limited source of information for public interest. We need to use the Marxist-Leninist theory of seeking truth from facts, which requires sharp tools and probing questions to provide theoretical basis for implementing thought. The basic premise of seeking truth from facts is that everything starts from reality, and the essence is to use materialism to explain and answer philosophical questions.
While the law of evidence states that the burden of proof lies with the one who has made the allegations, we also know that when the Office of the President is involved, information and communications are critical for informed public discourse. Waiting for the conclusion of the legal process, while correct, could unfairly compromise the President’s Office and the President as a victim of the burglary.
One body of statements
The amaBhungane report and the Fraser affidavit provides one body of statements alongside an edited and possibly doctored burglary video.
Ramaphosa’s official statement, his address at the ANC Limpopo conference and his answers in Parliament confirm the cash business resulting from the proceeds from the sale of game and Ankole cattle but far less than the cash amounts referred to by Fraser. The Namibia Government has also issued a statement rejecting aspects of Fraser’s statement, which also accuses the Namibia President Hage Geingob.
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We read that further investigations are being instituted by Hawks, SAPS, SARS, Public Protector, Information Regulator in terms of POPI Act, and that the National Prosecuting Authority will accordingly process information and decide on a cause of action.
Meantime what do we do as the public? It is impossible for the public to be silent and await the above-mentioned outcomes, therefore, unavoidably, dialogues continue. The narrative in several media platforms has not probed critical questions that need to be answered by the former Head of State Security, Minister Bheki Cele, PPU and the State Security Agency (SSA), such as:
We are in a digital era, and we should use it to our advantage. We can access information available to the public in Parliament regarding Declarations of Business Interests of the President. Further, rules of the auction in the game farming industry are publicly available on the Stud Game Breeders website, and it seems acceptable to use cash or any payment method acceptable to the auctioneer.
The current dialogues have been, correctly, seeking the truth from the President. As I indicate, though, there are other stakeholders that need to answer here, like the farm manager.
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The media has a responsibility to probe further and provide all sides of this story towards seeking the truth. This would be very important in the public interest. The media exists to serve society and must scrutinise the information independently and enable society to make informed judgments in this matter of national interest.
While allowing and respecting the investigation process to unfold, the media has the tools to probe. Asking the above questions is not in defence of any stakeholder but is intended to seek the truth from facts.
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