Money laundering and housebreaking charges brought against Phala Phala farm theft suspects

Imanuwela David (left) and Froliana Joseph in Bela-Bela Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 7 November. (Photo: Supplied/NPA)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp and Rudzani Tshivhase

7 Nov 2023

Criminal charges have been brought against two suspects for their alleged role in the theft of $580,000 from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020. They made their first appearance in a Limpopo court on Tuesday.

Two suspects appeared in Bela-Bela Magistrates’ Court in Limpopo on Tuesday in connection with the burglary at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020.

Imanuwela David (39) and Froliana Joseph (30) face three charges: Conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal and theft; housebreaking with intent to steal; and housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. David faces an additional count of money laundering.

The charges relate to the theft of a large sum of US dollars that had reportedly been stashed in couches on Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Reserve Bank’s buffalo-sized Phala Phala cop-out puts President Ramaphosa in the clear

“The pair were arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on Sunday and Monday, respectively,” said Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, regional spokesperson for the NPA’s Limpopo division.

“The investigations revealed that between 1 January 2020 [sic], the accused persons conspired to commit housebreaking with intent to steal and theft at Phala Phala farm, and on 8 January 2020, Imanuwela with two others entered Stokkiesdraai farm believing that it was Phala Phala farm.

Phala Phala Imanuwela David (left) and Froliana Joseph in Bela-Bela Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 7 November. (Photo: Supplied / NPA)

“They broke and entered but nothing was stolen. The following night they located the Phala Phala farm where they broke, entered and stole $580,000.”

Joseph was allegedly employed at the Phala Phala farm at the time of the theft, according to Malabi-Dzhangi.

The accused made a brief appearance in court before the matter was postponed to Friday, 10 November, to allow time for David to arrange legal representation. A formal bail application has yet to be made and the suspects remain in police custody.

The Hawks have indicated that the arrest of the third suspect is imminent.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Ramaphosa’s Farmgate scandal – a timeline of what we know (and don’t know) so far

Read more in Daily Maverick: Two suspects arrested for alleged role in 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm to appear in court

The Farmgate scandal

The 2020 break-in at Phala Phala only became public knowledge in June 2022, when former head of the State Security Agency (SSA) Arthur Fraser filed a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa in relation to the theft. He alleged that Ramaphosa had failed to report the incident to the police, instead charging the then head of his Presidential Protection Unit, Major-General Wally Rhoode, with the task of finding the criminal and retrieving the money.

Fraser further claimed that Rhoode and his team had kidnapped and interrogated suspects before paying them to keep quiet about what had happened.

It was only after Fraser laid the criminal complaint against Ramaphosa that the Hawks took over the investigation into the break-in from the Presidential Protection Unit.

Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied any culpability in the events surrounding the theft at Phala Phala. A report by acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka cleared the President of all wrongdoing in relation to the incident in June 2023.

The report found that Ramaphosa had not acted improperly or violated the Executive Ethics Code by exposing himself to any risk of a conflict between his constitutional duties and his private interests, and that he had not abused his power in using state resources to investigate the theft at Phala Phala.

However, Gcaleka did find that Rhoode had acted improperly in his handling of the crime. He failed to open a case docket and register an official criminal investigation with the South African Police Service, instead pursuing an unofficial investigation. DM

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The Farmgate scandal