PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 01: President Cyril Ramaphosa during the swearing-in ceremony of the Minister-Designate of Police at Union Buildings on August 01, 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa. President Ramaphosa appointed Professor Cachalia as Acting Minister of Police after Minister Senzo Mchunu was placed on indefinite leave following corruption allegations made against him by the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. (Photo by Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu)
President Cyril Ramaphosa is “going nowhere” despite a damning Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) report related to the 2020 theft at his Phala Phala Game Reserve.
This is the firm stance of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) on calls by other political parties for the impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
IPID report
The 2023 IPID report found that the head of Ramaphosa’s police security unit, Major General Wally Rhoode, deliberately concealed the theft of millions of rand worth of US dollars from the president’s Phala Phala game farm.
According to the report, Ramaphosa informed Rhoode in 2020 about a break-in at his Phala Phala farm and the subsequent theft of $580,000 in cash.
The ATM has written to the Speaker of Parliament, Thoko Didiza, asking her to institute Section 89 proceedings and calling for the impeachment of Ramaphosa, while ActionSA wants the Portfolio Committees on the Presidency and police to institute an urgent inquiry into the failure to comply with the recommendations of the IPID report, as well as the apparent failure to act against Rhoode.
Impeachment not supported
However, the PA spokesperson Steve Motale said the party does not support the impeachment of Ramaphosa.
“We wish to state this clearly, so that there is no confusion: the Patriotic Alliance will not support any motion for the impeachment of the President. Impeachment is the most serious constitutional step available to Parliament.
“It is not a tool to be dusted off every time a report is released and selectively interpreted to suit a political narrative Motale said.
Ramaphosa not ‘implicated’
Motale added that the IPID report “does not implicate the President, no matter how creatively some may wish to read it.”
“South Africa cannot afford to be dragged into cycles of manufactured outrage and political theatre. There is a difference between accountability and opportunism, and we are not interested in confusing the two.”
‘Going nowhere’
PA leader, Gayton McKenzie, said Ramaphosa is going nowhere.
“We are not going to remove a sitting President based on noise and political games. South Africa needs stability.
“At a time when South Africans are demanding real progress on jobs, service delivery and safety, we will not be distracted by attempts like these – driven by the politically desperate, craving relevance at every corner – to turn everything they can lay their hands on into a constitutional crisis,” McKenzie said.
‘I did nothing wrong’
Last week, Ramaphosa denied any involvement in unauthorised investigations related to the 2020 theft at his Phala Phala Game Reserve.
Speaking to the media during his visit to Eskom’s Kusile Power Station on Friday, Ramaphosa said the alleged cover-up in relation to the robbery at his Phala Phala farm had nothing to do with him.
“The Ipid report is what you would have read. I had nothing to do with it. So, that is a process, as I’ve always said, processes must play themselves out, and all these matters are being handled by the right institutions, and we must allow those institutions to handle those matters.”
The IPID report recommends disciplinary action against Rhoode and Constable Hlulani Rekhoto, who concealed the crime of housebreaking and theft of cash and failed to report it to a police station in accordance with Saps procedures.
