ActionSA to challenge IPID’s top secret Phala Phala report
ActionSA is preparing legal papers to challenge the Independent Police Investigating Directorate’s classification of its investigation report into the conduct of Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) members in the Phala Phala case as “top secret.”
The party previously filed an appeal in December, which IPID did not respond to.
ActionSA initiated efforts in April to obtain the findings of the investigation, which faced delays, including claims that the IPID’s email system was non-operational.
The Public Protector has previously found that the PPU members acted improperly and outside their legal authority while investigating a crime without registering an official police docket.
According to IPID, the report was classified as top secret because its disclosure “can seriously damage the operational relations between institutions and/or can disrupt the effective execution of information operational planning and/or plans”.
However, ActionSA argues that under Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS) guidelines, reports can be classified as top secret if they meet certain criteria, including the potential to declare war, discontinue diplomatic relations, seriously damage operational relations between institutions, or disrupt the execution of operational planning.
ActionSA maintains that the report is central to investigating alleged abuses of power related to the Phala Phala robbery.
It follows other inquiries, including a Public Protector report and a SARB investigation clearing President Cyril Ramaphosa of exchange control violations.
The National Prosecuting Authority has come in for fierce criticism from some quarters after declining to prosecute President Cyril Ramaphosa for allegedly covering up the theft of thousands of US dollars from his farm in Limpopo in February 2020.
In 2024, the NPA in Limpopo stated that there was no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution based on the evidence contained in the docket.
The decision came despite a parliamentary inquiry which found that Ramaphosa had a case to answer.
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