Ramaphosa’s responses on farmgate saga will not be disclosed in court, says PP’s office

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s responses to the questions posed to him by suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on the farmgate saga will not be disclosed in the courts.

Farmgate saga

Public Protector spokesperson Oupa Segalwe confirmed to The Citizen on Monday the position of the Public Protector’s Office was that the information should be kept confidential, in order to avoid compromising the ongoing investigation.

ALSO READ: Mapisa-Nqakula’s letter to Ramaphosa ‘triggered’ Mkhwebane’s suspension, court told 

He said the courts had also previously emphasised the importance of protecting the integrity of investigations.

“Having information that is before the Public Protector of South Africa for the purpose of an investigation forming part of or being the subject of a court decision might have unintended implications for the investigation.

“We reiterate that, to protect its integrity, the investigation will not be conducted out in the open,” Segalwe said.

This comes after Mkhwebane’s lawyer, advocate Dali Mpofu, revealed on Monday in the Western Cape High Court that they wanted Ramaphosa’s 31 answers to the Phala Phala farm investigation to be made available to them.

Mkhwebane is attempting for the second time in the high court to overturn her suspension from office in June by Ramaphosa.

This followed the high court’s dismissal of her urgent bid to interdict the president from suspending her ahead of the start of the parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office.

ALSO READ: High court dismisses Mkhwebane’s bid to block Parliament’s impeachment process

Mpofu argued that Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane after she had sent him 31 questions on the alleged theft of $4 million at his Limpopo farm that occurred two years ago.

He said the questions were relevant to Mkhwebane’s latest court application because she was the one who compiled them.

“When we debate the issues around the timing of the suspension and so on, this issue will come back as to the answers and the timing and whether we need to see those answers in order to sustain that argument,” Mpofu said.

Ramaphosa responds to questions

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka had threatened to subpoena Ramaphosa after he failed to meet the 18 July deadline to respond to the allegations levelled against him.

However, last Friday Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that the president had responded to the questions. Magwenya said the threats of a subpoena by the Office of the Public Protector were unnecessary.

Farmgate scandal

Ramaphosa has increasingly come under public pressure to come clean on the robbery at his Phala Phala farm, after former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint against him in June of money laundering, kidnapping and corruption.

Fraser alleged that the president was involved in an elaborate cover-up of the crime after criminals – allegedly working in cahoots with his domestic worker – broke into his property and stole millions of US dollars in cash.

He further claimed that the suspects were subsequently kidnapped, interrogated and bribed to keep quiet.

While Ramaphosa said he would cooperate with investigations, he denied any criminality on his part and maintained that the crime was reported to the Presidential Protection Unit.

NOW READ: Corruption Watch demands transparency over Phala Phala robbery