The relationship between police minister Bheki Cele and President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under scrutiny after Mzwanele Manyi asked why the president “did not call” Cele after a robbery at his Limpopo farm in 2020.
Last week former spy boss Arthur Fraser claimed a robbery took place at Ramaphosa’s farm and millions of US dollars (alleged to be more than $4m) were stolen from the property.
He accused the president of concealing the crime from the police service and/or the SA Revenue Service. He further alleged that the president paid the culprits for their silence.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed the robbery but denied any involvement in criminality by the president.
“On being advised of the robbery, President Ramaphosa reported the incident to the head of the Presidential Protection Unit of the police service for investigation.
“President Ramaphosa stands ready to co-operate with any law enforcement investigation of these matters,” said Magwenya.
Manyi, who is spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, questioned why the minister was not alerted immediately and asked how police will intervene moving forward.
Posting a picture of Cele, Manyi wrote: “Minister of police, why did the president not call you at the moment of need on February 9 2020? Now that you know in greater detail what we all know from Fraser, where to from here?”
POLL | What do you think of Ramaphosa ‘not alerting’ Bheki Cele to farm robbery?
Image: Amanda Khoza
The relationship between police minister Bheki Cele and President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under scrutiny after Mzwanele Manyi asked why the president “did not call” Cele after a robbery at his Limpopo farm in 2020.
Last week former spy boss Arthur Fraser claimed a robbery took place at Ramaphosa’s farm and millions of US dollars (alleged to be more than $4m) were stolen from the property.
He accused the president of concealing the crime from the police service and/or the SA Revenue Service. He further alleged that the president paid the culprits for their silence.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed the robbery but denied any involvement in criminality by the president.
“On being advised of the robbery, President Ramaphosa reported the incident to the head of the Presidential Protection Unit of the police service for investigation.
“President Ramaphosa stands ready to co-operate with any law enforcement investigation of these matters,” said Magwenya.
Manyi, who is spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, questioned why the minister was not alerted immediately and asked how police will intervene moving forward.
Posting a picture of Cele, Manyi wrote: “Minister of police, why did the president not call you at the moment of need on February 9 2020? Now that you know in greater detail what we all know from Fraser, where to from here?”
Presenting the quarterly crime stats in Pretoria on Friday, Cele told journalists cases are not reported directly to him, and he is not privy to information surrounding cases under investigation by authorities.
“Nobody reports cases to me. They investigate, take them to court and many of those cases, I will see at court. This one was opened a few days ago. Like all other cases it will be investigated.
“National police commissioners and the Hawks don’t report to me which case and who are they investigating. I usually hear from them when they give the report to the portfolio committee,” said the minister.
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