ActionSA’s parliamentary team is writing to the Portfolio Committees on the Presidency and on Police to institute an urgent inquiry into reported misconduct by Major General Wally Rhoode and members of the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) during the Phala Phala investigation.

The party has obtained an Independent Police Investigations Directorate (IPID) report detailing serious misconduct including the unlawful use of State resources, falsifying documents, and abuse of the President's name.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont pointed out that despite the report, which was finalised in 2023, making serious findings against Rhoode and Constable HH Rekhoto, no accountability measures have been taken. 

Beaumont highlighted that the report, which ActionSA has now published, finds that Rhoode and Rekhoto, despite their positions within the South African Police Service (Saps), both refused to participate in the IPID’s official probe.

They conducted an "off-the-books" investigation into the farm theft without opening a formal police case or notifying the National Police Commissioner.

Beaumont noted that both Rhoode and Rekhoto allegedly falsified documentation to secure State funding for the investigation by disguising it as legitimate PPU operations.

The pair also incurred irregular costs by flying in drivers from Pretoria to Cape Town for the investigation, ignoring the fact that local resources were already available.

Beaumont pointed out that they seemed to have used the President’s name to intimidate and pressure other law enforcement officials into following irregular orders.

“They interrogated suspects without informing them of their constitutional rights, leading to allegations of unlawful apprehension and kidnapping. They arranged an unauthorised meeting with Namibian government officials in a ‘no-man's-land’ near Upington and improperly involved the Presidential Envoy for Africa, Dr Bejani Chauke,” he added.

Beaumont said despite these findings being public for almost two years, the Saps leadership and the President are accountable for failing to act against Rhoode, Rekhoto, and Chauke.

He argued that the President's inaction is even more concerning given reports that his name was used to prevent an investigation into the case's irregularities.

The document was only declassified by Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia after ActionSA prepared legal action, Beaumont said, adding that despite the declassification in early February, subsequent requests for the report were ignored until its release.

“ActionSA pursued the release of this report because, at the heart of our democracy, is the principle that every South African must be equal before the law. This principle has been undermined by successive African National Congress (ANC) governments and is now further compromised by a Government of National Unity that has been co-opted to protect the ANC,” he noted.