In the small settlement of Vingerkraal, the home of Froliana Joseph, President Cyril Ramaphosa's former employee at his Phala Phala game farm, neighbours say the soft-spoken 30-year-old has been living a frugal life since she lost her job at the farm.
One of her neighbours in the area, about 40 minutes from Bela Bela, said Joseph’s job loss and the birth of her child a year ago made things tough for her family.
“She’s been at home since this whole thing started. She has not gone back to work and things have been tough for her. We do not know what is happening in her life because she keeps to herself,” said the neighbour.
Vingerkraal is small community consisting mainly of Namibian exiles who make an income by working around the many game lodges in the vicinity.
Joseph’s home, at the heart of the settlement, is a rudimentary structure which does not stand out from the rest.
Another neighbour said though Joseph has attempted to keep a low profile, she makes time to take care of some of her neighbours.
“I am a sickly person and I do not work. Sometimes Froliana comes to my house to prepare food for me. She is a kind person and I do not know anything about these things that people are saying about her stealing money from the president,” said the neighbour.
Joseph, however, is alleged to have been the mastermind behind a grand theft at Ramaphosa's farm in which about $580,000 (R10.6m) was said to have been stolen.
The dollars had apparently been stashed in couches.
Joseph and her co-accused, Imanuwela David, aged 39, on Tuesday appeared in the Bela Bela magistrate's court on theft and housebreaking charges in relation to the February 2020 theft.
Joseph’s attorney, Mike Mokgobu, told the court that the 30-year-old asked to have her child brought to her three times a day while she is in custody for breastfeeding.
“Your worship, the accused has a child with special needs who relies on the care of the mother 24/7. The child doesn't eat anything and is only being breastfed. How will the child survive until Friday in this situation?
“The accused has asked that the arrangements be made to fetch [the child] and bring her at the Bela Bela police station daily,” Mokgobu told the court.
Magistrate Predeshni Poonan told the court arrangements would be made for Joseph to care for her child.
She is expected to apply for bail on Friday, while David is yet to appoint a legal representative.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said the state believes David and Joseph initially attempted to break into a different farm on February 8 2020 before they successfully broke into Phala Phala.
David, in a recorded interview reported by the Sunday Times last year, was heard saying he was alerted to the stash of dollars hidden in a sofa at Ramaphosa’s farm by a cleaner. She sent his cousin a sample of 200 notes to prove they were not counterfeit, whereupon they decided to break into the farm.
“On their first attempt, they went to the wrong farm because they were not familiar with the area, and they managed to get to Phala Phala on their second attempt, and that is when they stole $580K” she said.
The theft came to light in June 2022 when former director-general at the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, opened a case of kidnapping and money laundering against Ramaphosa, Presidential Protection Services head Maj-Gen Wally Rhoode and Crime Intelligence members for allegedly concealing the break-in.
Ramaphosa said the cash was paid to his former farm manager, Sylvester Ndlovu, by Sudanese businessman Hazim Mustafa on Christmas Day in 2019 as he wanted to purchase a herd of buffalo. Ramaphosa allegedly failed to report the burglary to the police, but chose to report it to Rhoode instead.
It was further alleged Ramaphosa used the VIP Presidential Protection team to pursue the people who stole the money, which took them all the way to Namibia.
Amid the controversy, several political parties and NGOs called for the president's impeachment.
In August, South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago defended the bank's investigation into the Phala Phala theft, saying its investigation found the cash handed to a lodge manager in 2020 was a “security deposit” and not a final payment.
“The foreign currency was stolen before the conditions precedent to the sale transaction could be fulfilled,” he said.
The public protector's office also cleared Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing.
Police said the arrest of a third suspect was imminent.
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