By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The case against the three accused in the Phala Phala matter has been postponed to October 7 in the Modimolle Regional Court, in order to allow for the disclosure of the docket.
The three accused, Imannuela David, Floriana Joseph, and Ndilinasho Joseph, briefly appeared in court on Tuesday.
They are accused of stealing R10 million ($580 000) from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in 2020.
The matter was postponed to allow the state to disclose the docket’s content and to have an Oshiwambo (Namibian) language interpreter.
The Oshiwambo language is spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and greater parts of Namibia. The Ovambo people also called Aawambo, Ambo, Ovawambo and are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia.
The alleged mastermind, Imanuwela David remains in custody while the bail of the siblings continues to be extended.
David is charged alongside siblings Froliana Joseph, who was a domestic worker at the Phala Phala farm and her brother, Ndilinasho Joseph.
Froliana, and her brother, Ndilinasho, who are accused number two and three, were granted R5,000 and R10,000 bail, respectively, in November last year.
“The alleged accused are facing the following charges: conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal, Housebreaking with intent to steal, Housebreaking with intent to steal and theft, and money laundering charge will also apply to Imanuwela David,” said National Prosecuting Authority Limpopo spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi.
Former spy boss Arthur Fraser accused Ramaphosa of attempting to cover up the theft from his private game farm in February 2020.
Ramaphosa reported the incident to the then head of his protection unit, Wally Rhoode, who embarked on an investigation but never reported the theft to a police station and no docket was ever opened.
Meanwhile the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said Ramaphosa must have known that he was abusing his power by asking Rhoode to investigate the theft, and asking for help from his Namibian counterpart in apprehending the suspects.
This comes after the constitutional court has agreed to hear EFF application for Ramaphosa to face impeachment.
In a directive, the apex court asked the EFF and the respondents — the president, the speaker, the National Assembly and all parties represented in it — to file written arguments by 19 July and 26 July respectively.
The case will revisit a section 89 report that found Ramaphosa had, on the face of it, a case of serious misconduct to answer in relation to the origin of forex stolen from his game farm and clandestine efforts to recover it.
According to Ramaphosa, the stolen sum was $580,000 paid in deposit for buffalo by a Sudanese buyer and hidden in a sofa by an employee.
The report, written by a panel chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, apparently drove him to the brink of resignation before he decided to take it for review in Concourt on the basis that the panel had misread its mandate and impermissibly relied on hearsay from Fraser.
If the EFF were to prevail and the report were sent back to the National Assembly for reconsideration, Ramaphosa would find himself on a stickier wicket than 20 months ago. May elections trimmed the party’s vote share down to 40%, which translates into 70 fewer seats in the National Assembly.
The panel found that there is a prima facie case against Ramaphosa and located grounds not only in the narrative Fraser told the police when he brought charges against Ramaphosa in relation to the burglary, but in what it termed the evident holes in the president’s version of what happened at his farm.