MK Party calls for urgent release of 'top secret' IPID report on Phala Phala scandal

The Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MK Party) is demanding the immediate declassification of the investigation report completed by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) on the role of the police in the Phala Phala scandal. The MK Party stated that it will not stand by and watch this scandal be buried.

The investigation centres on an alleged cover-up of a 2020 theft involving large sums of US dollars hidden under couches on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo. Despite no official police case being opened, state resources were reportedly used to trace the suspects.

The IPID completed its investigation in October 2023. But Police Minister Senzo Mchunu later said the IPID report was “top secret” and would not be shared with the public.

Amid the current scandals surrounding Minister Mchunu and the police service as a whole, the MK Party said "South Africans, the media, civil society, and Parliament must confront the calculated silence surrounding the Phala Phala scandal."

It noted that it has now been more than seven months since the government promised regular updates on this matter. 

“This matter has evolved beyond a legal issue; it has become a political cover-up of national proportions, designed to shield the most powerful while undermining public accountability. As the MK Party, we refuse to remain silent. The people of South Africa deserve the truth.

“The MK Party will not stand by and watch this scandal be buried. We are taking action. We are demanding the immediate declassification and public release of the IPID report,” the party stated.

“South Africans must never allow corruption to be normalised through silence. The MK Party is not afraid to challenge power with truth,” the party concluded.

IPID said on Wednesday that the investigative report into Phala Phala remains classified. 

THE MERCURY