Africa-Press – South-Africa. The alleged theft of $4 million from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Limpopo game farm “demands the highest level of scrutiny from Parliament”, says the DA, who will demand answers from the police’s VIP Protection Unit amid “suspicions of a cover-up”.
DA MP and spokesperson on police Andrew Whitfield wrote to the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson, “requesting that she summon the leadership of the South African Police Service (SAPS) VIP Protection Unit together with the leadership of the Presidential Protection Unit to appear before the committee”.
“The recent revelations surrounding the theft of an estimated $4 million from the President’s Limpopo farm, Phala Phala, demand the highest level of scrutiny from Parliament in order to get to the bottom of this conspiracy,” said Whitfield in a statement released on Thursday morning, hours before Ramaphosa was due in the National Assembly to deliver the Presidency’s budget vote speech.
“The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, has admitted that the head of the SAPS Presidential Protection Unit, General Wally Rhoode, knew about the incident and therefore failed to fulfil his legal obligation to report the crime which occurred at the President’s farm. This is also evident from the lack of reporting in the police annual reports.”
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On Tuesday, Daily Maverick reported that the police didn’t report any security breaches at the premises under their protection – which would include the president’s homes – in the annual report for 2019-20. The theft at Phala Phala happened in February 2020.
Whitfield said it was “an unacceptable failure to uphold the highest standards of integrity to which the SAPS should be held and gives rise to legitimate suspicions that this is a cover-up”.
“The SAPS VIP unit has been shrouded in secrecy for years. It is this secrecy which has led to this recent cover-up, and the DA will not rest until full transparency is applied to this unit,” he said.
“The DA has also submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of Police to give him an opportunity to play open cards with the South African public.”
The police’s division for protection services, which includes the VIP protection unit that is supposed to look after the security of the President and “other dignitaries”, annually receives a larger budget than the Hawks, who are supposed to be investigating priority crimes.
Ramaphosa’s appearance in the National Assembly on Thursday will be his first since controversial former spy and prisons boss Arthur Fraser laid charges of kidnapping and money laundering against Ramaphosa, Presidential Protection Unit head Major-General Wally Rhoode and Crime Intelligence members for allegedly concealing the burglary.
A warm welcome is expected for Ramaphosa, as the EFF has warned that he “will not know peace” in the House.
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