Cape Town - The office of the public protector’s delay in releasing to the public the much-anticipated report on the Phala Phala farm scandal creates unnecessary suspicion of interference.
It’s now almost 12 months since African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyolwethu Zungula turned to the public protector, asking Busisiwe Mkhwebane to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa for possible breach of the Executive Members Ethics Act.
This was after former State Security Agency director Arthur Fraser lodged a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa in connection with the theft of dollars amounting to millions of rand at his Phala Phala game farm in 2020.
We now know that Sars has no record of the foreign currency being declared. The animals that were allegedly bought with the dollars are still at the farm.
The ATM’s main concern though is that trading in these animals, which Ramaphosa has conceded to, constitutes paid work and thus a violation of the said section of the Constitution.
Days after the ATM complaint, Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane, having received a list of questions from her over the farmgate scandal.
By doing so, the matter was left with Mkhwebane’s deputy Kholeka Gcaleka, who has, on a number of occasions, sought to justify why this investigation took this long.
The excuses were exposed by the Parliamentary independent panel led by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, which concluded its report in just under 90 days. Its outcome was scathing against Ramaphosa.
Why the office of the public protector has not acted with the same vigour as the three-member Section 89 panel – despite having more resources – only her office is best placed to answer.
However, in a country where the history of political interference is well documented, it leaves the concerns about the delays justified.
She has yet to update the nation on how far the probe has progressed since she last made available her preliminary report earlier this year, which apparently exonerated Ramaphosa.
In just a few more days, the scandal marks a year since it came to the public’s attention. The office of the public protector will soon have no excuse for sitting on this report.
The public deserves to know. At stake is the reputation of our democratic institutions.
Cape Times