POLL | Two arrested — are you satisfied with Phala Phala investigations?

Though two people have been arrested in connection with the theft of foreign currency from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in 2020, some people on social media are unhappy with the investigations.

Ramaphosa's former employee at the farm Froliana Joseph appeared in the Bela-Bela magistrate's court on Tuesday with Imanuwela David, both charged for the February 2020 break-in and theft of $580,000 (R10.6m) at the farm in Limpopo.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said the pair planned the housebreaking on January 1 2020. Eight days later, on January 8, Imanuwela and two other suspects made their first theft attempt, but ended up at the wrong farm, Stokkiesdraai. 

“They broke in but nothing was stolen. The next night they located the Phala Phala farm where they broke in and stole $580,000,” she said.

Their court appearance took place as the South African Reserve Bank report on the Phala Phala scandal was disclosed in court papers. The DA is challenging the Reserve Bank’s report after it cleared the president of wrongdoing in the lack of declaration of the dollars brought by Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim to buy 20 buffaloes in cash on Christmas Day in 2019. 

The bank investigated whether Ramaphosa breached exchange control regulation 6, which reads: “Every person resident in the republic who becomes entitled to sell or to procure the sale of foreign currency shall within 30 days after becoming so entitled make or cause to be made a declaration in writing of such foreign currency to the Treasury or to an authorised dealer.” 

According the Reserve Bank’s report, the money was kept in Ramaphosa’s bedroom and hidden under cushions of a sofa for more than a month before the robbery. The bank, however, cleared Ramaphosa, arguing that despite cash delivered to the farm there was no “perfected transaction”. 

Though some people on social media applauded the Hawks for the recent arrests, others said they were not satisfied with the investigations which found there were no currency exchange control breaches.

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