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Phala Phala farm in Limpopo
ActionSA has condemned the exoneration of two senior police officers during internal disciplinary proceedings linked to the Phala Phala matter.
The party says the outcome contradicts findings by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), which had recommended action for serious misconduct against the two officers.
ActionSA spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni says the party will today file a Promotion of Access to Information Act application to obtain the full record of the proceedings.
The party argues that SAPS internal processes are failing to ensure accountability.
Ngobeni says, “We know that these police officers had refused to participate in the IPID investigation. We know that they involved themselves in an unlawful investigation without opening a docket. We know that there’s a case to be answered with regard to falsified documents. We know that there was irregular expenditure that was incurred”.
“The IPID investigation illuminated that they had interrogated suspects without informing them of their constitutional rights. These things require full answers, and so we are not convinced that the SAPS outcome is the correct outcome at all,” Ngobeni added.
Ngobeni says ActionSA wants to understand how the internal disciplinary process reached a different outcome from IPID’s recommendations.
She says the party is not making a final finding on whether there was political interference, but wants the full record disclosed.
“Well, I mean, we have no idea. This is why we are asking for, uh, the full record to be disclosed. We, we, we would like to see that. We have no idea at the moment. We can’t speculate, but we can definitely, uh, assume to that effect, just given the, the, um, the current goings on, uh, in all of the commissions that are currently on,” Ngobeni says.
ActionSA says the matter raises concerns about accountability in cases involving senior police officials and politically sensitive investigations.
