I will not succumb to political pressure over Phala Phala probe: Acting Public Protector

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka says she will not succumb to political pressure to rush her investigations into the Phala Phala saga.

Her office has come under fire for allegedly dragging its feet on the matter.

Earlier this year, some opposition parties marched to the office in Pretoria after accusing Gcaleka of contravening the Executive Members Ethics Act over her failure to release the report within 30 days of former State Security Agency Director-General Arthur Fraser’s initial complaint in June.

Fraser stated the charges emanate from the theft of over $4 million by robbers in February 2020, in collusion with a domestic worker, at the President’s Phala Phala farm in Waterberg, Limpopo.

Fraser alleges that Ramaphosa was involved in defeating the ends of justice, kidnapping suspects, interrogating and bribing them and thereafter concealing the crime from the police.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Anti-Corruption Day in Pretoria Gcaleka said: “Our investigations are at an advanced stage. We are in a process now where we are assessing the evidence that is before us and doing a preliminary draft not for the release but for either a discretionary notice or a Section 79 in the instance where we make adverse findings.”

More details in the report below:

Opposition parties demand the release of the Phala Phala report 

In September, opposition party supporters marched to the Office of the Public Protector to demand the release of the report into the investigation into the robbery at the president’s game farm.

The EFF, ACDP, COPE, UDM, and ATM leaders led the march.

More details of the march in September are in the report below: