CR to Parly: Phala ‘not laundering’

MP suggests he’s ‘in cahoots with criminals’

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa appeared before Parliament to respond to questions about kidnappings, crimes in the Province, the Phala Phala farm burglary and what he called the “calamity” of Eskom.

Ramaphosa believed the number of confiscated guns and murder-related arrests since the Anti-Gang Unit’s (AGU) establishment in the Province indicate both the scale of crimes and the work the unit was putting in.

He said the Hawks and the police were working on kidnappings and that multi-disciplinary investigators were probing beyond just the Province and looking across borders, but he did not give specifics.

In response to a question by EFF leader Julius Malema, who had asked whether he had assessed reasons for the proliferation of the “criminal economy linked to gangsterism” on kidnapping, torturing of women and money laundering, despite the president’s establishment of the AGU in November 2018.

“Gangsterism, kidnapping and extortion are in the main undertaken by those with criminal intent and criminal enterprises that both threaten the national security and erode the social fabric of communities,” said Ramaphosa.

He said since the AGU’s establishment, it had made a number of arrests: 819 for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition; 442 murder-related arrests; 253 arrests for attempted murder; and 1 387 arrests for drug-related crimes.

“These figures demonstrate both the scale of the problem and achievements of the AGU,” he said.

EFF MP Omphile Maotwe said soldiers’ deployment on the Cape Flats and the president’s PR campaign couldn’t mask the real crimes that were facing the city.

She said the city’s crime was fuelled by drugs manufactured in Bryanston and Waterkloof in Gauteng.

Maotwe suggested that Police Minister Bheki Cele and Ramaphosa may be in cahoots with criminals, an allegation Ramaphosa labelled as “outrageous”.

“When we launched the AGU, we saw a considerable decrease in crime and a rising number of arrests,” Ramaphosa said.

He said the government was setting up several specialised units and adding 10 000 police officers across SA.

ATM MP Vuyolwethu Zungula asked why Ramaphosa did not report the Phala Phala crimes, and why he refused to account to Parliament.

Ramaphosa said: “I have said and admitted that there was a theft at the farm and I reported that to a general of the SAPS, who later informed me that he had also reported it to another general.

“I deny that there was any form of money laundering. I have said it publicly – that it was proceeds of sale of game.”

Asked by DA leader John Steenhuisen why there was no case number, Ramaphosa said: “I reported it as one would report. And when you report to a general you expect that processes will unfold in the way they should. And in the end, the police general will be able to answer that question.”

He said the Section 89 panel would demonstrate “precisely what has happened” and it does not make him “uncomfortable” but “re-commits” him to accountability.

On Eskom, he said the remaining costs to complete the new but breakdown-prone Medupi and Kusile power plants were R19 billion and R14bn, respectively.

Ramaphosa said load shedding was not “wilful or planned intention … from ministers or Eskom executives”.