Former Crime Intelligence boss Mulangi Mphego has denied claims that he was involved in the disappearance of documents related to the Phala Phala investigation following the death of Lieutenant-General Sindile Mfazi in 2021.
Image: Jennifer Bruce / Independent Newspapers Archives
Former head of Crime Intelligence Division and high-level political advisor Mulangi Mphego is demanding a comprehensive investigation surrounding the death of Lieutenant-General Sindile Mfazi, dismissing allegations that he raided Mfazi’s home and stole documents related to the Phala Phala investigation.
Mfazi, police deputy national commissioner, was the top police investigator probing the 2020 burglary and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s concealment of crime at Phala Phala farm before he died in 2021.
His death was attributed to Covid-19, but toxicology and exhumation reports later confirmed that he was poisoned.
Mphego was accused of entering Mfazi’s Pretoria home shortly after his death, removing files that were allegedly linked to the Phala Phala investigation to the misuse of SAPS Crime Intelligence funds.
Mphego also served as the special advisor to the late Deputy President David Mabuza between 2018 and 2023.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, Mphego demanded a thorough transparent criminal investigation into claims that Mfazi was murdered, adding that he is prepared to support the authorities and ensure that the culprits are caught and prosecuted.
Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe confirmed that the case is being investigated by the SAPS Cold Case Unit.
Mathe added that the investigation is at a “very sensitive” and “advanced stage”, and that the unit has made several inroads into the investigation.
Mphego said the allegations connecting him to Ramaphosa and the missing Phala Phala investigation documents from Mfazi’s home are completely false.
He said he had no idea that Mfazi was investigating Phala Phala.
“I have never had any knowledge that he was investigating Phala Phala or that he held any documents related to it. If such files ever existed, I never saw them. I utterly loathe and despise the criminality alleged to have been committed by any actor involved in the Phala Phala saga,” he said.
Mphego stated that he has no allegiance to Ramaphosa or any individual connected to the Phala Phala scandal, adding that he simply rejects “any sickening” attempt to link his name to the alleged sordid actions.
“My plea is for a thorough investigation to ruthlessly tear open what happened, strip these actions of political protection, expose them to the bone, and bury the guilty under the full weight of the law. Let me be unmistakably clear: Anyone honestly and aggressively investigating the death of Mfazi is a friend to me, but anyone deliberately diverting investigative resources away from the real suspects is, in my eyes, completely complicit.
“I want to be categorically clear: I did not set foot inside Mfazi’s Pretoria house where he died during this entire period. The narrative that I cleared out his residence is a blatant, orchestrated lie. I know exactly who stripped Mfazi’s house, under whose orders they operated, and exactly where his property went,” he added.
Mphego alleged that Mfazi’s close relative, specifically tasked three individuals to pack up Mfazi’s Pretoria house and deliver everything to her in East London.
“Under the relative’s direct orders, the three loaded Mfazi’s black Mercedes-Benz bus. They then drove that bus straight to the close relative in East London, handing over the vehicle and its entire contents directly to her. Any documents Mfazi possessed would have been packed into that specific bus and delivered to this relative. That is exactly where investigators must probe,” he said.
He said his sole involvement on that day was responding to a distress call from one of the three, asking for help and explaining how he was placed under intense and disgusting pressure by the close relative to drive to the Polo factory shops en route to East London.
“He explicitly told me he felt this behaviour was entirely vile and indecent. He begged me to prevail on them to abandon their disrespectful frolic. I was there to protect and support a bullied, conflicted individual, not to manipulate evidence,” he said.
Mphego added that the allegations made against him are a desperate, calculated smear campaign designed to use the tragic death “of my closest friend” as a weapon of political expedience and distraction.
He said he has already launched aggressive legal action against specific social media platforms and “the cowardly digital assassins who masquerade under fake identities”.