A housekeeper working at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo where $580,000 (about R10m) was stolen in February 2020 confirmed in court on Monday she had called the acting general manager after the break-in.
Earlier on, the acting general manager, who cannot be named in terms of a court order, admitted to stashing the cash under Ramaphosa's couch for safekeeping.
He said he had received the $580,000 from a client on December 25 2019 as payment for 20 buffaloes he sold from the farm.
The housekeeper, who also cannot be named, testified that on the morning of February 10, 2020, she had asked the acting general manager to come to the main house after realising that the window handle was broken and realised that the cushions from the small bed in the room had been removed.
The sliding door next to the window was also open.
This is after she had gone to the main house to fetch a flask.
She told the court the acting general manager came and inspected the place.
The woman, who said she only cleans the room when the owner is visiting, told the court she did not know there was money stashed in the couch.
The acting general manager told the court that on February 10, while at a sister farm of Phala Phala, he received a call from the housekeeper from the main house asking him to come.
He testified that when he got to the house, he was shown the open sliding door and curtains.
When he inspected the place, he found the window was open with a scratch mark and the handle broken. He also found that some camera positions had been changed and some cameras broken.
When he went into the room where he had stashed the money, it was no longer there.
“I was afraid because it was a lot of money. I called Mr Ramaphosa. He was not in the country at the time. I told him about the news. He told me that he will send his head of bodyguards,” he said.
The theft came to light in June 2022 when the former director-general at the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, opened a case of kidnapping and money laundering against Ramaphosa and the head of the president's protection unit, Maj-Gen Wally Rhoode, for allegedly concealing the break-in.
Imanuwela David and siblings Froliana and Ndilinasho Joseph, who are facing charges of conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal and theft, two counts of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft and, in David’s case, an additional charge of money laundering, have pleaded not guilty in the Modimolle regional court.
The matter has been postponed to September 17 for continuation of trial.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.