Bheki Cele pleads ignorance on Phala Phala burglary

Police Minister Bheki Cele said he was never informed about the theft of foreign currency from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm, at the time it occurred.

He made the admission in a reply to a written parliamentary question.

Cele has previously told parliament police were not stationed at the president’s Phala Phala farm when the burglary took place in February 2020.

This weekend, the ANC is set to discuss whether it plans to act against Ramaphosa over the issue that threatens to impact his campaign to continue as the party’s president.

Cele offered very few explanations to parliament about the police’s role in the wake of the Phala Phala incident.

In September, he said the police were only sent to guard the farm after the burglary.

This is despite the presidential handbook requiring the president’s properties to be protected.

In his latest response to a written question from Democratic Alliance (DA) member of parliament Andrew Whitfield, Cele said neither he nor his office was informed of the theft of currency from the president’s farm.

The revelations were made two years later after former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid it all bare in an affidavit to police.

In response to the second part of the DA’s question to Cele as to what steps he took to report the crime through official channels, Cele stuck to his original answer, that he was never informed about the incident.

Ramaphosa has previously told parliament he reported the incident to the head of his VIP protection unit while they were travelling in Ethiopia.

The ANC’s integrity commission is expected to reveal to the party’s NEC meeting this weekend, what admissions Ramaphosa has made regarding the incident.

-EWN

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