The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have accused the country’s law enforcement agencies of deliberately orchestrating a cover-up of the Phala Phala scandal involving President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The party says acting public protector, the National Prosecuting Authority, the South African Revenue Service and the Reserve Bank have remained silent on the saga.
Earlier this year, the EFF marched to the Pretoria office of Holeka Gchaleka’s lawyer to demand she release a report on the saga within 30 days of an initial complaint under the Executive Ethics Act by former National Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser.
Reserve Bank Governor Lesethja Kganyaga says he requested information on the theft of foreign currency from the presidential farm in 2020 after appearing before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Tambo says the independent Section 89 panel exposed law enforcement.
“The Acting Public Protector, who was appointed after Public Protector Mkhwebane opened the Phala-Phala Farm investigation, has still not released a report, not even a preliminary report, on what happened at Phala-Phala Farm. It has been almost 150 days since it was mandated or required by the laws governing… The NPA is not reporting progress, the South African Police Service is not reporting, the South African Reserve Bank is not reporting results … So this independent a group that recently conducted its work revealed that there is a deliberate cover-up organized by South African law enforcement agencies.’
Ramaphosa must resign
Meanwhile, the EFF has called on Ramaphosa to resign in line with the recommendations of the independent Section 89 panel tasked with investigating the Phala Phala farm scandal.
Tamba called the panel’s recommendations damning and scathing.
“Look, as the EFF, we find this reprehensible, scathing and the very final conclusion of an independent panel that has essentially told the nation, the continent and the world that South Africa is ruled by a thug, money-laundering, constitutional-violating president and his oath.”
Tambo elaborates in the video below: