The owner of a farm that neighbours President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Limpopo game farm Phala Phala, where $580,000 in cash (about R10m) was stolen in February 2020, has testified in court how he was told of a burglary at his farmhouse while in Pretoria.
The man cannot be named as per court order.
He told the Modimolle regional court that on February 9, he received a call from a contractor saying there may have been a break-in at his farm.
The man said that when he arrived at the farm, he saw that there had been a break-in via a window. He went through video camera footage showing men entering his farmhouse.
“They took the pillows out of the pillow cases,” he testified, adding those pillows had been on a couch and bed.
The man said he asked his farm manager to open a case with the police, although he could not find anything else missing in the house.
“We didn’t think anything was stolen,” he said.
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.
A farm employee at Ramaphosa’s farm, whom the court also ordered not to be named, has already told the court he had received the $580,000 from a client on December 25 2019, as payment for 20 buffaloes he sold from the farm. He further said he had stashed the money under a couch for safekeeping before it was stolen.
Earlier, another state witness who had allegedly transported David and two men to a dealership in Johannesburg, was declared a hostile witness as the state argued that he gave contradictory evidence.
In his statement, the man had said he had been handed three packs of US dollars.
He was told that one pack was worth $10,000. However, in court, he said he was given R7,000 in South African rands.
“The money that I was given was R7,000,” said the witness.
He also may not be named.
Meanwhile, the state has also brought an application in terms of section 190 of the Criminal Procedure Act to declare another witness hostile.
According to the state, the witness deviated from the statement he made to the police during the investigation.
In court, the witness confirmed his relationship with the accused.
He said he knew David as he had previously worked with him and that he grew up with the Joseph siblings.
The man claimed that the statement before the court he supposedly made was brought by officers, and he was made to sign.
In its application, the state submitted that should the court find the witness did not make the statement but was merely asked to sign, the state will then apply for a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility and status of the statement.
Magistrate Peter Manthata said he needed time to consider the arguments and also to look at the case law that has been referred to by both the state and the defence.
He will make a ruling on Thursday on the issue, and the trial is expected to proceed on Friday.
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