The MK Party has rung the alarm over what it calls a “deliberate information blackout” on the Phala Phala Farm dollars scandal involving President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Gwaza Mkhonto party believes that there is a multi-pronged cover-up strategy that was employed to bury the Phala Phala saga and shield Ramaphosa from accountability.
But the official opposition was not going to stand by and keep quiet while the scandal was buried and Ramaphosa allegedly evaded accountability.
The Phala Phala saga emanates from revelations in 2022 by former spy chief Arthur Fraser about a break-in at Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo, where thieves made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What became a political hot potato was Ramaphosa’s alleged non-action in the theft, wherein his security detail instead clandestinely hunted down the thieves.
Following Fraser’s whistleblowing, a parliamentary panel led by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo was established, concluding that Ramaphosa had a case to answer.
But the ANC, which had a majority, voted to reject the report, bulldozing through the process.
Several law enforcement agencies, along with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) and SA Revenue Service (SARS), were also investigating the matter, as well as other institutions. SARS and SARB cleared Ramaphosa.
Deliberate information blackout
MKP believes that the fire over the Phala Phala fiasco must keep burning underneath Ramaphosa so that he never finds peace.
“It has now been more than seven months since the government promised regular updates on this matter,” MKP spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.
“Instead of clarity, we are met with a deliberate information blackout on a scandal that implicates the sitting president of the republic.
“This is no longer just a legal matter. It has become a political cover-up of national proportions, designed to shield the most powerful while undermining public accountability.
“As the MK Party, we refuse to remain silent. The people of South Africa deserve the truth. The facts are deeply troubling.
“The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) completed its investigation into the role of SAPS in the Phala Phala cover-up in October 2023.
“Yet in March 2025, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu confirmed that the report is classified as ‘top secret’.
“This decision has kept the report away from the public, parliament, and the media. What exactly is being hidden?”
No prospect for successful prosecution
Ndhlela said the MKP was further concerned that the NPA’s Limpopo director of public prosecutions last October resolved that there was no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution without laying bare evidence that informed this decision.
Ndhlela said: “Meanwhile, the robbery trial involving the theft of large amounts of undeclared foreign currency from the president’s farm has been pushed back to September 2025.
“The accused will appear, but President Ramaphosa will not be called to testify. The trial has been designed to insulate him from scrutiny. This is a clear attempt to protect the politically connected from accountability.
“The MK Party will not stand by and watch this scandal be buried. We are taking action. We are demanding the immediate declassification and public release of the Ipid report.
“We will be using all platforms to apply consistent public pressure and ask, where is the Ipid report? Why are there no prosecutions? Why is Ramaphosa being protected?
“This is a moment for bold leadership. South Africans must never allow corruption to be normalised through silence.”
