Calls for accountability over the Phala Phala farm investigation have intensified after multiple political parties demanded the release and parliamentary scrutiny of a report compiled by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) into the 2020 burglary at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm. The African Transformation Movement has formally written to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, requesting that IPID be summoned to account for its findings and conduct during the investigation. In a letter addressed to committee chairperson Ian Cameron, ATM leader…

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has formally written to the Constitutional Court seeking clarity on when judgment will be delivered in the high-stakes matter of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and ATM v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others, a case heard more than a year ago on 26 November 2024. The letter, penned by ATM Parliamentary Leader Vuyolwethu Zungula, places renewed political and legal pressure on the country’s apex court, as frustration grows over prolonged delays in the long-awaited…

ActionSA has announced that it is preparing a legal challenge to force the unsealing of the Independent Police Investigating Directorate’s (IPID) report into the conduct of Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) members linked to the Phala Phala matter, after the document was classified as “Top Secret”. In a statement issued on Tuesday, ActionSA said it had begun drafting legal papers to challenge IPID’s decision, accusing the watchdog of deliberately obstructing access to a report that the party believes is critical to…

Pressure is rising on the Constitutional Court as political parties and civil society intensify calls for the release of the long-awaited judgment on the Phala Phala matter involving President Cyril Ramaphosa. On Friday, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) added force to the national debate by leading a large march to the Constitutional Court, demanding that the court deliver its ruling more than a year after hearing the case. The march began at Mary Fitzgerald Square, where EFF members and supporters…

The highly anticipated trial of three accused in the Phala Phala farm robbery has entered a dramatic phase after a state witness revealed how $580,000 in cash was removed from a farm safe and hidden in a sofa at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s private residence. Testifying in the Modimolle Regional Court on Monday, the witness — a former lodge manager at Phala Phala whose identity cannot be revealed for safety reasons — admitted to personally stashing the dollars in a rarely…

The highly anticipated trial of three people accused of stealing millions of rand in foreign currency from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm is finally set to get underway at the Modimolle Regional Court in Limpopo this morning, almost three months later than initially scheduled. The accused — former Phala Phala housekeeper Froliana Joseph, David Joseph, and Namibian national Immanuwela David — face charges of housebreaking, theft, and money laundering. They allegedly conspired to break into the President’s Bela-Bela farm…

In a dramatic political twist just days before Mandela Day, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has issued President Cyril Ramaphosa with a formal letter of demand calling for his immediate resignation. The party on Wednesday, 17 July, said Ramaphosa must step down by 09:00 on Friday, 18 July, “in honour of Nelson Mandela, the founding Commander-in-Chief of uMkhonto weSizwe.” The letter, seen by African Times, accuses the President of multiple violations of the Constitution and undermining democratic principles. It follows…

The national chairperson of ActionSA, Michael Beaumont, has warned that his party will take the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to court if it fails to meet its deadline to release a report on the conduct of the presidential protection unit during the Phala Phala probe. Beaumont said that after ActionSA’s initial application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) a month ago, IPID missed its first deadline and instead requested a 30-day extension. This follows ActionSA’s PAIA…

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka’s legal team has defended the fact that the final report into Phala Phala farmgate ignored evidence that opposition parties submitted to Parliament’s Section 89 panel, which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa had a case to answer. Today Gcaleka absolved Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing, stating that the president did not abuse his power or fail to declare his personal business interests to parliament. Last year, an independent panel appointed by Parliament, led by former Chief Justice…

In what Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has labelled the biggest scandal to hit South African democracy, the suspended Chapter 9 institution leader blamed the death of former Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson on “state capture.” Mkhwebane was speaking during her much-anticipated media briefing on allegations that Section 194 chairperson Richard Dyantyi and ANC parliamentary Chief Whip Penny Majodina solicited bribes to make the inquiry go her way. She said the solicitations of the bribes were communicated to her husband,…