The office of the public protector has completed its investigation into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farmgate scandal.
In a letter to the African Transformation Movement (ATM) dated January 20, the acting executive manager of the public protector’s office, Vusumuzi Dlamini, confirmed that an interim report on the investigation has been drafted and would be referred to relevant parties for “quality assurance purposes”.
“Kindly be advised that the investigation into this matter has been completed. The investigation team has already drafted an interim report,” said Dlamini.
“Once the quality assurance process is completed, the interim report will be served to the relevant parties in line with rules relating to investigations by the public protector and matters incidental thereto, as promulgated under the Public Protector Act, to allow them to comment on the intended findings before the report is made final.”
In its investigation, the public protector sought to determine whether the president violated the executive ethics code after the theft of millions of US dollars that were allegedly hidden at Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo on February 9 2020.
ATM leader Vuyo Zungula is the complainant in the public protector’s investigation and one of the first people to file a parliamentary complaint to have the president impeached in terms of section 89 of the constitution.
An independent panel established to probe the president’s conduct in this matter later found that Ramaphosa may have violated multiple clauses in the constitution including a violation of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, which governs bribery and corruption prevention, and section 96(2) of the constitution.
However, Ramaphosa challenged the report in court, where he sought to review and set it aside. In his application, he insisted that the panel misunderstood its mandate.
In December, MPs debated the panel’s findings and voted on the matter. Before vote, Zungula and other parties including the EFF requested that the voting be done through a secret ballot but the Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, turned down the request.
Zungula and EFF leader Julius Malema argued at the time that the vote was putting people’s lives in danger and requested that Mapisa-Nqakula reconsider her decision, which she later maintained.
Out of 400 National Assembly MPs, 214 voted against the report and 148 said the report should be adopted, which saw Ramaphosa emerging victorious.
[JUST IN]
Former Chief Justice Ngcobo, Justice Masipa and Adv Sello are unanimous that there's prima facie evidence that Mr Ramaphosa has violated his oath of office.
Will Adv Gcaleka and her staff find differently? #PhalaPhalaFarm #PhalaPhala pic.twitter.com/AcUsbVXEpq
— African Transformation Movement (@ATMovement_SA) January 24, 2023
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