Phala Phala saga: ActionSA appeals classification of IPID report to ensure accountability

ActionSA is refusing to back down in its challenge against the classification of a "top-secret" Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) report concerning Presidential Protection Officers involved in the Phala Phala saga.

The party has launched a formal appeal as a step before taking the matter to court.

ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont stated that the party's actions are aimed at ensuring information is not withheld from the public and that the President does not operate above the law.

THE LAST FRONTIER OF ACCOUNTABILITY
The presidential scandal simply won't disappear.

While the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have protested the time taken for the Constitutional Court to produce a judgment on how Parliament handled the Phala Phala matter, ActionSA has criticised former opposition parties for dropping their insistence on accountability due to their new positions in government.

ActionSA’s Michael Beaumont says the IPID report is the last frontier in the fight against the abuse of power to shield the President in the Phala Phala matter.

"In the event that this report is not handed over, ActionSA will approach the courts because it is clear that the Public Protector’s report and all understandings on this issue — that members who were charged with the protection of the President did exactly that, rather than investigating this as a matter of criminality."

MINISTERIAL DEFENCE OF CLASSIFICATION
In a response to parliamentary questions in September, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said he was satisfied that the classification of the Phala Phala report meets the minimum information security standards.

He added that releasing the report has the propensity to damage operational relations between institutions.

Two years ago, the Public Protector’s report recommended that the Head of the Presidential Protection Unit, Wally Rhoode, face a disciplinary hearing following evidence that he had breached South African Police Service (SAPS) regulations.

However, Cachalia has previously told Parliament that Rhoode was found not guilty by an IPID investigation of pursuingsuspects in the robbery without an official police case being registered.

On Monday, the Modimolle Regional Court postponed the Phala Phala burglary trial after one of the three accused was too ill to appear.