Police committee accuses IPID, SAPS of Phala Phala cover-up

By Simon Nare

The Portfolio Committee on Police has accused the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) of attempting to cover up the theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Bela Bela, Limpopo.

The accusations emerged during Parliament’s consideration on Tuesday of IPID’s report into the controversial Phala Phala theft, in which burglars broke into the farm and allegedly discovered large sums of U.S. dollars hidden inside a sofa.

The theft was not officially reported to the police at the time.

Instead, it only became public two years later, in June 2022, when former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid criminal charges and alleged a cover-up involving the kidnapping and bribery of suspects.

Irate MPs demanded answers over why the police watchdog classified portions of its report into the burglary at the president’s farm.

Some committee members, including uMkhonto we Sizwe Party