PHALA PHALA FILE MYSTERY DEEPENS: BOMBSHELL CLAIM IN DEATH OF COP LINKED TO CR PROBE
- The Azanian
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Two SAPS officers allege death of investigator probing Phala Phala burglary was "not natural" as missing docket fuels cover-up fears
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
The Phala Phala file is missing. And now, the death of the cop who was probing it is under a cloud.
Two senior SAPS officers have come forward with bombshell claims that a member of the police team investigating the 2020 burglary at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo died under suspicious circumstances — and that key evidence may have been deliberately suppressed.
The allegations threaten to reignite one of the most politically sensitive scandals in the country.
According to sources close to the investigation, the officer died in February 2024 after complaining of being followed and receiving threats linked to the Phala Phala case.
The officers allege that the docket relating to the burglary — in which millions of US dollars in foreign currency were stolen from the President’s game farm — went missing shortly before his death.
“We were told it was natural causes. It was not,” one officer told The Azanian. “He was working on evidence that linked certain people to the movement of that money. Then the file disappeared.”
The burglary only became public in June 2022 when former State Security Agency boss Arthur Fraser laid charges against Ramaphosa, alleging the President failed to report the theft and tried to cover it up.
The claims have also dragged in former Crime Intelligence boss Lt-Gen Mulangi Mphego.
Mphego has previously been accused of interfering in high-profile investigations. Sources say he was aware of the Phala Phala probe and allegedly played a role in how evidence was handled.
Mphego denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged in connection with Phala Phala.
The SAPS has not confirmed the identity of the deceased officer or the status of the investigation, citing "ongoing internal processes."
The central mystery remains: Where is the Phala Phala docket?
Parliament’s Section 89 Panel found in 2022 that Ramaphosa had a case to answer over the burglary. The matter was later referred to police for investigation.
But with the lead investigator now dead and the file missing, critics are asking if this is a case of evidence being buried.
“You can’t have a President under investigation and the investigating officer dies while the docket vanishes,” a senior legal expert told The Azanian. “That is not how accountability works.”
The Presidency has previously said Ramaphosa cooperated fully with law enforcement and that “no money was stolen from the President.”
Opposition parties are now demanding an independent inquiry into both the disappearance of the file and the circumstances around the officer’s death.
“If there is nothing to hide, release the file,” a DA spokesperson said. “The public deserves to know what happened at Phala Phala, and what happened to the man investigating it.”
The Madlanga Commission has also been asked to look into whether there was political interference in SAPS investigations related to senior government officials.
For now, the Phala Phala file remains a mystery. And with each new claim, the pressure on the state to account grows.
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