Ian Cameron, chairperson of Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee, questions the classification of the Phala Phala report as "top secret" and its implications for transparency.
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The chairperson of Parliament's police portfolio committee Ian Cameron says they don’t understand why the Phala Phala report was classified as “top secret” but will question its validity in Parliament.
Cameron told IOL that the matter was never raised in the police portfolio committee and “that makes it quite difficult to understand why they would classify it".
Last week, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has completed an investigation into the break-in at Phala Phala game farm and the report would be "top secret" and will not be made public.
Although the Public Protector's and the South African Reserve Bank's reports on Phala Phala are publicly accessible, Mchunu did not explain why the report has been classified as "top secret" and will not be made public.
Cameron said this was rather worrying for the public not to know about the secret information.
“We will obviously question it within the next two weeks during the committee sessions to try and understand what the reason for this was if there is a legitimate reason, then it needs to be explained,” he said.
He added that if there are no relevant reasons for its classification, then pressure must be used to declassify it.
According to Cameron, the report is of public interest and it’s important for them to play open cards with the public.
“It's critical for us to also be informed as to the progress of any further investigation because according to what we know, certain investigations have been completed, so why the classification now,” he said.
He mentioned that they would continue to ask the relevant questions and use the relevant remedies at their disposal to do so.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics
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