Arthur Fraser anticipates ConCourt ruling on Phala Phala case amid growing pressure on Cyril Ramaphosa
Former head of State Security Agency Arthur Fraser says he is hoping that the Constitutional Court will uphold the principle of equality before the law in its ruling on the Phala Phala matter on Friday.
Image: Phando Jikelo / Independent Newspapers
Former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, who lodged a criminal complaint against President Cyril Ramaphosa about the alleged cover-up following a burglary at Phala Phala farm in 2020, said he was expecting that the Constitutional Court (Concourt) would reinforce the foundational tenet that all individuals were equal before the law during its ruling on Friday.
The Concourt was expected to rule on the rationality of the National Assembly’s rejection of the Section 89 Independent Panel Report in December 2022.
The case focused on whether Parliament acted constitutionally and rationally when it voted 214 to 148 against adopting the report, which had found prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have violated his oath of office.
The EFF and African Transformation Movement (ATM) argued that the rejection was irrational and an attempt to shield Ramaphosa.
On the other hand, the National Assembly maintained it acted within its discretionary powers and that courts should not interfere with internal parliamentary decisions, upholding the separation of powers.
The panel report, led by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, was released in November 2022 and concluded that there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa may have committed serious violations of the Constitution and the law, justifying an impeachment inquiry.
This was after Fraser filed a criminal complaint at the Rosebank police station, and alleged that approximately $4 million (later contested by the president as $580 000) was stolen from the farm in February 2020.
He alleged that the crime was covered up, and the suspects were allegedly kidnapped and interrogated on the property to recover the funds, then paid for their silence.
He added that the money was not declared to the Reserve Bank.
Asked what his expectations of the ruling were, Fraser, who refused to say more, said he trusted that the decision of the court will reaffirm that “we” are all equal before the law.
In his affidavit submitted to the panel in 2022, Fraser said that the incident was never reported to the police to investigate. Instead, Ramaphosa instructed the head of the Presidential Protection Unit, Major General Wally Rhoode, to immediately investigate the incident, apprehend suspects, and retrieve the stolen dollars.
Fraser alleged that Rhoode constituted a team consisting of former SAPS members and serving members of Crime Intelligence, along with a local farmer, to investigate the matter.
He further alleged that a domestic worker was also paid R150 000 not to divulge any information about what had transpired at the farm.
Fraser added that the fact that Ramaphosa had large undisclosed sums of foreign currency concealed in his furniture is ‘prima facie proof’ of money laundering, contravening Section 4 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act No. 121 of 1998.