Minister Lamola denies SA ignored assistance request from Namibia related to Phala Phala

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has denied that the government deliberately ignored a request for mutual legal assistance from Namibia, related to suspects in the Phala Phala farm burglary.

Answering questions in Parliament on Wednesday, Lamola said that at the time, officials did not know that the request was related to the incident on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s property.

He said that his department was waiting for Namibia to submit an amended request because the original one did not meet requirements.

Initially, the Justice Department denied claims from the Namibian police that it had sought confirmation of the Phala Phala burglary in July 2020.

It later backtracked, with Minister Lamola reiterating in Parliament, that Namibia was informed that its request lacked the necessary detail.

“To date, the department has not yet received an amended request that meets the requirements and any response from the Namibian authorities,” the minister said.

Also responding to questions on the matter, Minister of Police Bheki Cele said that he was not made aware of the incident at the time that it occurred.

“The SAPS was not used to investigate the alleged break-in and theft, or to pursue the alleged perpetrators,” Cele said.

Lamola also confirmed that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had not yet received a docket from the Hawks to consider any prosecutions.

-EWN

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