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President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Game Farm near Bela-Bela in Limpopo.
Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia says there has been no interference by the Ministry to classify the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (IPID) Phala Phala report.
He was speaking at a meeting of Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee, where both IPID and South African Police Services (SAPS) are briefing the committee on the directorate’s Phala Phala farm report.
WATCH | The Portfolio Committee on Police is considering the IPID report on the Phala Phala game farm burglary. SAPS is briefing the committee on action taken against implicated members. SABC News reporter Mkhokheli Bandla has the latest from Parliament. pic.twitter.com/0e2EGaAAJ3
— SABC News (@SABCNews) May 13, 2026
IPID investigated any possible wrongdoing on the part of SAPS officers who investigated the theft of the alleged $580 000 from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm, in 2020.
IPID found among others that the head of the Presidential Protection Unit, Major General Wally Rhoode, did not report the incident to his senior, the then National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole and did not open a docket at a police station, among others.
The report was classified in 2023. Cachalia says the executive to whom IPID accounts has had no hand in the classification or declassification of the report.
“IPID did not seek my advise or intervention and that I had no role in classification or declassification, no exercise of ministerial discretion and I am not aware of such a discretion because you know, IPID is an independent body,” he says.
IPID says its report on the Phala Phala theft incident, was classified, to protect the integrity of the report. This is according to the directorate’s acting head of investigations, Thuso Keefelakae.
IPID has found various wrongdoing on the part of the head of the Presidential Protection Unit, Major General Wally Rhoode.
Keefelakae explained to MPs why the report was initially classified, saying classification was intended at protecting integrity of the IPID investigation and ensuring that SAPS members got to be properly informed of the charges before the process could become public information.
“Further, prior to the implementation of the disciplinary recommendations, SAPS members identified for disciplinary recommendation had to be treated fairly by avoiding their names being flagged in the media or other platforms prior to them being informed of the process,” adds Keefelakae.
VIDEO | SAPS briefs Parliament on Phala Phala game farm burglary
