ActionSA has filed an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to obtain the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's (Ipid) report on the theft that took place at President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm, according to News24.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has classified the report as ‘top secret’.

‘The filing of this PAIA application is a fulfilment of our promise to demand transparency from the grand coalition government and to ensure that its leaders act with ethical consideration,' said ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont.

‘South Africans deserve answers on Phala Phala, and ActionSA's application is one step towards ensuring those answers are delivered.’

Beaumont added that they wouldn't hesitate to approach the High Court, if necessary. This is the latest instalment in a saga that started in June 2022 when Arthur Fraser, the Zuma-era DG at the State Security Agency, opened a kidnapping and money-laundering case against Ramaphosa, Presidential Protection Unit head Major-General Wally Rhoode, and Crime Intelligence members for allegedly concealing a February 2020 burglary of foreign currency stuffed in a counch at Phala Phala.

Ramaphosa and his staff's version is that the stolen $580 000 was a ‘deposit’ for ‘substandard’ buffalo, paid by Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa.

The ATM’s Vuyolwethu Zungula also filed a number of complaints about the matter.

Last month, News24 reported that Ipid had completed an investigation into Phala Phala in October 2023, but the government had decided to hide its outcome from the public.

The report has been classified as ‘top secret’, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said in response to a question from Zungula. 

The reports by the Public Protector and SARB are publicly available, but Mchunu didn't provide a reason why Ipid's report has been classified as ‘top secret’.

Full News24 report