Watergating At Phala-Phala Game Farm

A Concise Case Study & Comparative On Political Corruption: Interlocking The Watergate Office/Hotel Tower Break-in in 1972 in America and the Phalaphala Game Farm/Residency in South Africa in 2020.

In 1972, America and the world contended with the biggest scandal of the time, a break-in at the Watergate Towers near the White House. This break-in has lived in infamy with global scandals adopting the suffix “gate” from Watergate to describe various political scandals around the world.

The scandal and the break-in involved the president of the U.S. at the time, Mr Richard Nixon.

In the early hours of 17 June 1973, police arrested five burglars at the Watergate Tower at the offices of the opposition party the Democratic Party. Four of the burglars were CIA operatives who had been in the anti-Cuban task force.

The fifth was Mr McCord responsible for a campaign to re-elect President Nixon.

President Nixon’s Press Secretary, a typical official propaganda minister in U.S, Mr Ziegler said “the president will not comment on a third-rate burglary attempt”.

The media in the U.S. went ahead and supported the White House narrative that there was a no there in the story of CIA officers breaking in at an opposition party head offices. The public relations machine worked overtime to distance Nixon and his re-election team from it. The conspirators started to destroy evidence, equipment and stashes $1000’s of cash dollars.

Cover-ups and new narratives were created.

From Watergate to Phalaphalagate

A report to the police in South Africa was made in 2022 June by a former long term senior civil servant, a member of the permanent state who had been a Director of National Intelligence, Mr Fraser.

Fraser alleges he had been recently reliably informed of a burglary at the South African President’s personal game farm and residency in 2020, a burglary that had not been officially reported but was kept off the books with off the books investigations cross borders of South Africa that ended up involving Namibian president who received a personal call directly from Ramaphosa seeking his assistance to trace burglars who had been identified as Namibian nationals through the off the book investigation. Burglars are heard in recordings during one of the off the books interrogations as having stolen a stash of some $800 thousand U.S. dollars in cash stuffed inside a seating couch at the farm.

Police Intelligence Officers and Ramaphosa’s Advisor who is part of his re-election campaign are fingered to have travelled to Namibia which led to an informal arrest of suspects pictured seated at the farm lounge being interrogated by police officers.

State resources were utilised to trace and arrest and release the suspects at the farm and were not sent to police station or booked. A rendition of persons across the border and the false imprisonment or the unusual nature of a large stash of cash has not provoked the South African media or the ruling party to question the president.

With a clear cover-up narrative, that the large stash was from sale of game animals from one buyer who walked in unannounced on Christmas Day in 2020, the media has largely adopted a stay-aloof attitude.

What Did The President Know And When Did He Know It?

President Nixon attempted to use courts to push the U.S. Congress off, he attempted to hinder investigations, he lied and when it was clear members of his own party were going to vote to impeach him, he resigned and later the new president granted Nixon a pardon for crimes relating to Watergate.

President Ramaphosa is adopting exactly what Nixon did. The party members majority in Parliament appears to be keen on a cover up for Ramaphosa even though his own re-election advisor Mr Chauke is directly fingered and pictures of suspects handcuffed at his farm are public with various recordings of the interrogations. Namibia confirmed its role.

Like in Nixon, there is a re-election campaign, a stash of smuggled U.S. dollars, a break-in, cover ups, stalling via courts, and importantly there are tapes too in Ramaphosa scandal. There has never been a closely similar case of political corruption to Watergate as Phalaphalagate is.

Phalaphalagate involves high crimes and high misdemeanours.

What is to be done?

Article A Part of A Presentation Made By Bo Mbindwane for Cassandra Projects, presented in Soweto South Africa 7 November 2022.