ActionSA said it’ll soon legally challenge the decision of the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) to classify the investigation report into the conduct of the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) members relating to Phala Phala as “Top Secret”.
The party said this challenge come after suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, last year told parliament that the report into the theft of large sums of foreign currency at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo, was classified as top secret, according to the Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS).
It said it also comes after IPID ignored its requests to justify the classification of the report, which it described as a pattern of obfuscation.
“ActionSA began this process in April 2025 to secure the findings of its investigation, which were then subject to numerous delays, including claims by IPID that its e-mail system had been down.
With the Public Protector already deeming the conduct of the PPU members to constitute an improper and unauthorised investigation, rising to the level of maladministration and operating outside of their legal authority when they investigated a crime without registering an official police docket,” said ActionSA national chairperson, Michael Beaumont.
According to Beaumont, the party’s legal bid will include several approaches, including challenging the constitutionality of the MISS cabinet policy, which was the basis used to classify the documents.
Furthermore, the chairperson said it will challenge the rationality of the decision to classify the report and ask the courts to compel IPID to hand over the report to ActionSA.
ActionSA also raised alarm about the police minister’s reply, that the report was classified as it “can seriously damage the operational relations between institutions and/or can disrupt the effective execution of information operational planning and/or plans”.
Beaumont said the explanation is not valid enough for the report to be classified.
“The notion that IPID’s report may offend the Presidency or SAPS is not a good enough reason to keep this document from the South African people.
Similarly, to claim that disclosing the report may disrupt operational planning is to imply an ongoing investigation that IPID will have to prove six years after the robbery.
The truth is that IPID’s report is the last beachhead in the fight against the abuses of power to protect the President from the events at Phala Phala.
After a whitewashed Public Protector’s report and the SARB clearing the President of breaking exchange control laws, IPID’s report is the last opportunity to hold President Ramaphosa accountable,” remarked Beaumont.
