Johannesburg - The Public Protector’s Office wants Arthur Fraser to give reasons why he opened a criminal case against President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The former head of state security opened the case at Rosebank Police Station after Ramaphosa allegedly failed to report a robbery at his farm where an undisclosed amount in American dollars was stolen in February 2020.
The Public Protector’s Office also wants the former State Security Agent (SSA) director-general to reveal who are the sources of his information on the Phala Phala farm robbery.
These are some of the questions Sunday Independent understands were sent to Fraser by the Public Protector’s Office this week. Initially, the Public Protector’s Office sent Fraser’s lawyer, Erick Mabuza, the letter with the list of questions on Wednesday with a veiled threat of ‘a fine not exceeding R40 000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months’ should he disclose its contents to the former spy boss, who ironically is expected to answer those questions with his legal counsel.
These extraordinary threats prompted Mabuza to write back to the Public Protector’s Office explaining he was ‘unable to share the letter with counsel and Fraser’ without attracting ‘the sanction recorded in your letter’.
‘Please give the necessary authorisation so that I do not commit the offence against which you warn me,’ Mabuza wrote.
Sunday Independent understands that the Public Protector’s Office, later on Wednesday, wrote back to Mabuza giving strict instructions to only share the content of their letter to Fraser and his legal counsel.
“Can you imagine the audacity of threatening a lawyer with legal sanctions for sharing information with his client? Whoever wrote that letter was either high on something strong or doesn’t understand the law,” a senior politician, who is a lawyer by profession, said.
“Please don’t mention my name because, at this rate, I must be the one served with sanction just for commenting,” he added.
Public Protector spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, said that Mabuza was cautioned because “any unauthorised publishing of correspondence between the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) and sources of information during an investigation carries with it the potential of placing such an investigation in jeopardy.”
He added: “The publishing of leaked confidential documents addressed to sources of information has been rife in respect of the Phala Phala investigation. The inclusion of the provisions of section 7(2) of the Public Protector Act in correspondence addressed to sources of information is therefore not a threat but rather an effort to conscientise parties about the unlawfulness of the unauthorised disclosure of the contents of such correspondence to other people and the potential consequences thereof. This is standard practice in the PPSA’s investigation work and therefore not unique to the Phala Phala investigation.”
Segalwe said even though he couldn’t confirm whether or not another media house published what is purported to be answers from Ramaphosa to their office but added: “that such correspondence would in any event not contain any invocation of section 7(2) of the PP Act given that it would not have originated from the PPSA.”
“We still take a dim view of and strongly discourage any publishing of documents exchanged between the PPSA and sources of information as part of and during an investigation,” he said.
The Sunday Independent also understands that the Public Protector’s Office wants Fraser to supply them with any evidence linking Ramaphosa directly or his active involvement in the clandestine Phala Phala farm robbery investigation that was headed by his head of security, General Wally Rhoode.
Ramaphosa confirmed that there was indeed a robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Bela-Bela, Limpopo on February 9, 2020. The president said he tasked Rhoode to investigate the matter.
Fraser opened a case of kidnapping and assault against Ramaphosa and Rhoode at Rosebank Police Station in June after he claimed that Rhoode allegedly traced and assaulted the five Namibian nationals accused of robbing the president’s farm. Fraser claims in his affidavit to the police that there was between $4m (R72m) and $8m (R144m), at the farm, when the robbery took place.
Ramaphosa is being investigated by the public protector after African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader, Vuyolwethu Zungula, complained that the president might have violated the constitution of the land and violated the oath of office.
Zungula also wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula, asking her to initiate a Section 89 inquiry for the possible impeachment of Ramaphosa. The speaker named the independent panel headed by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo and includes former High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa and University of Cape Town law professor, Richard Calland. But the main opposition parties, Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), are opposing the panel accusing Calland of being Ramaphosa’s praise singer.