Parliament
The African Transformation Movement says it is studying, what now is now the leaked findings of the Public Protector's preliminary report into the Phala Phala farm scandal which has cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing in the debacle.
The ATM had lodged a complaint with the Public Protector in June 2022, when the party accused President Ramaphosa of violating his oath of office and the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
“As the African Transformation Movement we can confirm that we have received the provisional report from the deputy Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka and we are studying the contents of the report also with the guidance of our legal team,” ATM President Vuyo Zungula said in a statement.
He said even though the report had already been leaked, the ATM would not comment on its contents.
“We are unable to comment on the contents of the provisional report because of the prohibition as emphasised by the Public Protector’s Office in accordance with Section 7 (2) of the Public Protector Act 23 of 1994. This Act prohibits the ATM from sharing and discussing the report with parties considered not part of the investigation – the media included.”
Some parties who have however also seen the report have commented.
The Economic Freedom Fighters said they’ve ejected what the party called a “nonsensical” provisional report.
“We reject this predictable outcome by the captured acting Public Protector who irrationally found that Cyril Ramaphosa committed no wrongdoing when he laundered money, when he tortured a woman domestic worker and evaded tax at his criminally-operated Phala Phala farm.
It has taken the acting Public Protector almost nine months to produce this report and she intentionally stalled this process because she knows full well that she was going to produce an outcome that is at odds with basic logic and objective reality,” said EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys.
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said it was only a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee that would be able to fully investigate what took place at President Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm.
Steenhuisen told the public broadcaster that Gcaleka “misunderstood” the conflict of interest raised by the party on the part of the President.
In the interim report, Advocate Gcaleka says the evidence before her Office does not support the allegation that Ramaphosa’s financial interests in game and cattle farming expose him to a conflict of interest between his official duties and private interests.
