Major-General Wally Rhoode, the head of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential protection unit has been sidelined with the announcement by Fannie Masemola, the National Police Commissioner appointing another officer to oversee the Presidential Protection Services.
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Divisional commissioner of Protection and Security Services Lieutenant-General Samson Shitlabane is the new Presidential Protection head and will cover all duties previously overseen by Rhoode. It is not clear as to what Roode’s new position would entail, only that Roode will now be reporting to Shitlabane.
Rhoode’s name is heavily connected to the Phala Phala scandal of an “unreported” robbery which took place in February 2020 at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Farm in Limpopo and how the robbery and investigation were handled. The latest appointment of a new officer could be viewed as a way to sideline Roode, even though the SA Police Service (SAPS) said that the new appointment was to streamline reporting lines.
The national police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said, “The realigning of the Presidential Protection Unit was to streamline processes and strengthen governance.
“As per the financial programmes of the South African Police Service, both the Presidential Protection Unit and Protection Security Service fall under programme five. The move to streamline reporting lines thus aims to strengthen governance and accountability.”
In Rhoode’s account of events to the public protector about the robbery at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm, he explains that five Namibian nationals broke in and stole an undisclosed amount of US dollars estimated to be between 4 million and 8 million US dollars. The robbery took place on 19 February 2020.
The suspects then made their way down to Cape Town where they managed to change the dollars to rands at a local Chinese-owned forex exchange and spent the money on cars, jewellery and apartments in Cape Town. Some of the suspects drove back to Namibia while the others stayed in Cape Town.
As per the Sunday Independent, four sources have said that Rhoode “opened a can of worms” in his statement to the public protector inquiry, revealing incriminating information.
Rhoode explains that he drove to “no man’s land” – a neutral place on the borders of the two countries – to meet with some senior members of the Namibian police force of Ramaphosa’s instruction.
The meeting was arranged a few days after one of the suspects, Erkki Shikongo was arrested in Windhoek after police received a tip-off that he was driving a Ford Ranger which was bought with the money from the robbery.
Rhoode was accompanied to Namibia by Ramaphosa’s adviser, Bejani Chauke. The two were fetched via helicopter sent by the Namibian President and taken to the state house where they spent the night.
At the time, the Namibian police were investigating the robbery at Ramaphosa’s farm and found large amounts of cash that were deposited into various Namibian bank accounts, and used to purchase luxury vehicles and properties by the men linked to the robbery. The money was also used to bribe government officers.
A former head of criminal investigation for Namibia police force, Nelius Becker stated in a report that there was a secret meeting at “no man’s land” where an unnamed South African official said that something happened at Ramaphosa’s farm but was not reported to the police.
Becker added,” Due to the sensitivity of the matter and the envisaged fallout it will create in South Africa, they requested that the matter be handled with discretion.”
The public Protector communications manager, Oupa Segalwe confirmed that Rhoode, Ramaphosa and the national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola submitted responses to the investigators on 24 July 2022, but refused to share any more information.
Segalwe said, “All we can confirm is that the president responded and so did the national police commissioner. We cant deal with all other issues as that could compromise the investigation. As we said in our last statement, we want to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
The public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, had sent Ramaphosa 31 questions shortly before he suspended her, she is currently undergoing a parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office.
The robbery only became public knowledge after former state security agency, DG Arthur Fraser opened a case against Ramaphosa and Rhoode in June 2022.
Fraser alleges that Ramaphosa instructed Rhoode to trace the suspects using the state-owner grabber and to kidnap and torture them once Rhoode had tracked them down.
Some of the suspects were traced to a house in Milnerton, Cape Town and arrested under the guise of a drug trafficking case.
In an affidavit to the police, Fraser stated that Rhoode instructed Ramaphosa to pay the five robbers R150 000 each to keep quiet about the robbery.
Fraser added that Ramaphosa’s domestic who had orchestrated the robbery along with her brother was reinstated into her position as Ramaphosa’s domestic after being fired, she was also paid for her silence.
In a press statement by the Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Sebastian Ndeitunga said that their investigation was triggered by suspicions of banking transactions from South Africa to Namibia and has denied any involvement in “dirty work” for Ramaphosa.
Ndeitunga’s statement added,” The Namibian police force identified individuals, bank accounts and various properties including lodges, houses and vehicles suspected to have been purchased with proceeds of crime and consulted the prosecutor general’s office to consider a preservation order of the assets.”
The statement also claims that South African authorities failed to assist the Namibian Police which the South African department of justice has denied.
Ramaphose has now officially confirmed that there was a robbery at his Phala Phala farm and that the money was proceeds made from the sale of game. Ramaphosa’s farm manager, Hendrick von Wielligh has denied this claim exclaiming that to the best of his knowledge it’s very unlikely that they will keep such large amounts of cash at the farm.
The Namibian President Geingob’s spokesperson, Dr Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari denied that the president had arranged for a helicopter to fetch Rhoode and Chauke and that the two did not spend the night at the state house.
“President Geingob did not arrange for senior police officers from the Namibian police force to meet Rhoode and Chauke and the state house. This entire matter was presented to the Namibian authorities as a police matter and was thus dealt with by the Namibian police and not the Presidency.
Hengari added that President Geingob has made extensive and detailed public statements on the matter, in addition to details released by the Inspector-General of the Namibian Police and the Prosecutor-General.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc gallery