Cachalia hints at making Phala Phala police investigation public

In justifying the report’s classification, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia emphasised the importance of protecting the integrity of the investigation and safeguarding witnesses and SAPS members potentially implicated in the case before their trial commenced. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has hinted at the possibility of declassifying the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) report on the conduct of members of the Presidential Protection Unit in the controversial investigation into the theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm. Cachalia, in response to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Mazwi Blose, stated that IPID is contemplating revising the classification status of the report, which has been designated as “Top Secret”.

“This is in view of the need to balance the individual rights as alluded to above with the public interest to access information,” he said. Blose sought clarity on when the report would be declassified for public access, especially following earlier confirmations from suspended Minister Senzo Mchunu earlier this year that the document had been referred to the SAPS in October 2023 for implementation of recommendations. Mchunu noted that the classification was initiated under the Minimum Information Security Standards, preventing the release until proper declassification procedures were undertaken.

“Until it is accordingly declassified, it would not be released for public consumption,” he said in February. In justifying the report’s classification, Cachalia emphasisedthe importance of protecting the investigation’s integrity and safeguarding witnesses and SAPS members potentially implicated before their trial. the importance of protecting the investigation’s integrity and safeguarding witnesses and SAPS members potentially implicated before their trial “It further states that every accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.” Cachalia said publicly naming suspects before they appeared in court risked trial by media, which could undermine judicial impartiality and damage reputations irreparably, even if the person was later acquitted. “Moreover, IPID was aware of the fact that the Directorate of Priority Crime Inspectorate is investigating the criminal aspect of this matter, and it is inevitable that information contained in the IPID Report will also be expressed in the DPCI case docket,” he said.