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Arthur Fraser has alleged that he was offered R50 million to collapse the Phala Phala case just two weeks after he opened it against President Cyril Ramaphosa in June 2022. He made the claim in an interview with journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika for Wa Afrika’s podcast Unpopular Opinion. The offer, Fraser says, was later raised to what he described as a “blank script”.

Fraser is a former intelligence operative of the African National Congress and former head of South Africa’s State Security Agency (SSA). He came out of the liberation movement’s security world, joined the post-1994 intelligence services in 1995, later rose through the National Intelligence Agency, and became a central figure in several of the country’s most sensitive political controversies. In 2009, he was accused of leaking the so-called spy tapes to Jacob Zuma’s lawyers, helping clear the way for the withdrawal of corruption charges against Zuma before he became president. He later headed the SSA under Zuma and was implicated in allegations around the Principal Agent Network, a covert intelligence structure linked by critics and the Zondo Commission to alleged abuse of state security resources. As Correctional Services Commissioner, Fraser granted Zuma medical parole in 2021 against the advice of the Medical Parole Advisory Board, a decision later ruled unlawful and unconstitutional. In 2022, he filed the criminal complaint that exposed the Phala Phala scandal around Ramaphosa’s farm.

The new part of his account concerns what Fraser says happened after he opened the case.

Fraser said the approach came through a former unnamed associate, who in turn had been approached by the late Mark Lifman, an alleged Cape Town underworld figure who was assassinated in George in November 2024. On Fraser’s version, Lifman said he was “close to the adviser of the president” and indicated that “the president had asked him to make this matter go away”.

Fraser said the offer was R50 million “to collapse this case”.

Fraser alleged that the offer went beyond money. He said he was told he could choose “any department” in government, “including intelligence”. He also claimed that investigations against him would stop, and that findings against him in the Zondo Commission report could be amended.

Fraser said the offer later changed. According to him, the message became that “the 50 million is off the table” and that it was now a “blank script”. He said he was told to “just put the number” he wanted.

He said he refused.

Fraser then alleged that the pressure escalated into threats. He claimed that if the offer was not accepted, people had “already spoken to a businessman” who would arrange for others to “deal with” him.

The bribery allegation raised by Fraser lands days after the Constitutional Court revived the Phala Phala impeachment process, placing Ramaphosa back on the path toward a parliamentary committee that may call witnesses, request documents, and hear evidence under oath.

Fraser also used the interview to return to the original Phala Phala complaint. He said that complaint concerned “a multitude of crimes”. He alleged that people involved in the matter told him it had happened with “the knowledge and the consent of the president”.

Asked how much money was stolen from Ramaphosa’s farm, Fraser said “nobody could put a finger on it”, but that those who spoke to him “knew it was in excess of two million dollars”. He said one recording referred to $800 000 being taken, but added that the alleged thieves had been told, “You can’t take everything. You must leave something so that the president don’t (sic) see you’ve taken the money.”

Fraser also confirmed that his case was against Ramaphosa and others. He said that case was later closed after prosecutors found there was nothing on which to prosecute.

The allegations have not yet been tested before an impeachment committee.

Fraser’s claims land as Parliament is being forced back into the Phala Phala matter after the Constitutional Court set aside the 2022 vote that had blocked the original report into the matter.

That may widen the danger for Ramaphosa. The committee may no longer be asked only to examine the money at the farm, the alleged failure to report the theft properly, and the earlier handling of the matter by Parliament. It may now also face pressure to ask whether there was any attempt to induce, protect, or intimidate the man who opened the criminal case.