President Cyril Ramaphosa has replied to the 31 questions the public protector posed about an incident at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, thus averting a planned subpoena.
“We confirm receipt,” said the public protector's spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe.
Ramaphosa’s answers on Friday morning were three days late and their contents are not known. He had failed to respond to the Phala Phala questions by Monday, the second deadline set for his input. He had asked for another extension to Friday with the request denied only on the day the responses were due.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa’s reply was sent at 10am. “There was never an intention not to respond to the public protector,” Magwenya said.
On Tuesday, acting public protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka said she would compel Ramaphosa to respond to the now provisionally suspended incumbent, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
“The president holds in the highest regard and with the utmost respect all heads of Chapter 9 institutions, including the office of the public protector. Chapter 9 institutions are a creation of the constitution and must be respected. Therefore, the public threat for a subpoena was unnecessary,” insisted Magwenya.
After former head of the State Security Agency (SSA) Arthur Fraser opened a criminal case against Ramaphosa in early June, claiming he was doing so in the interests of justice, political party the African Transformation Movement (ATM) lodged a complaint with Mkhwebane’s office.
Fraser accused Ramaphosa of authorising the unlawful pursuit of the robbers, who stole a large sum of cash, in dollars, from his farm in 2020. The former spy boss asserted the theft of such a large sum of foreign currency was prima facie evidence of alleged money laundering.
He said the band of robbers stole upward of $4m, while Ramaphosa insists the true figure is lower. Fraser accused Ramaphosa of paying the culprits hush money, and endorsing the then head of the presidential protection team to travel to Namibia to apprehend one of them.
Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing and maintains his innocence. He has voiced support for an investigation into the matter, and inferred that it was part of a smear campaign against him by those in the ANC who opposed his anticorruption agenda.
He told delegates at the SACP elective conference on July 15, “I have pledged my full co-operation to the investigation process that is under way. I am prepared to be held accountable.”
Ramaphosa later added: “I will not allow these allegations [to deter me] from what needs to be done to rebuild our economy, and deter me and discourage me from the work I have to do.”
He suspended Mkhwebane on June 8. She is the subject of a section 194 process in parliament. The National Assembly has tasked a committee with establishing whether she is fit to hold office. Mkhwebane has criticised Ramaphosa’s timing, accusing him of being conflicted because he acted one day after she sent him the farm robbery questions.
But his spokesperson insisted that the move was triggered by parliament’s process. Magwenya highlighted that the suspension only occurred after Ramaphosa gave Mkhwebane an opportunity to give reasons she should not be suspended — as the constitution allows — pending the outcome of the section 194 committee’s work. The committee is set to resume hearings on Wednesday.
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