R8m cash stash at Phala Phala — Who knew what, and when?

After years of delays, the trial of the accused in the theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo finally began in the Modimolle Regional Court last week. 

The accused, Emmanuel David and siblings Floriana and Ndilinasho Joseph, face charges stemming from the February 2020 break-in and theft. 

The trial had previously been postponed to allow Floriana to attend to her pregnancy, but this week all three stood before the court, pleading not guilty to 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.

Two State witnesses, whose identities cannot be revealed because of a court order, took the stand and gave testimonies which have raised more questions than answers.

The acting farm manager

The first witness was an employee who, at the time of the incident, was the acting farm manager. He testified that on 25 December 2019, he conducted an unusual transaction, receiving $580,000 (about R8-million) from a businessman in cash as payment for the sale of 20 buffaloes.   

Following the transaction, he did not issue an invoice for the sale, but rather drafted a document acknowledging receipt of the funds that he later placed in a safe. 

The animals, however, were not taken by the buyer on that day.    

He told the court that the next day, on 26 December, when Ramaphosa briefly visited the farm en route to Cape Town for a holiday, he informed the president of the transaction.

“He [Ramaphosa] indicated to me that we will deal with the money when he returns [from holiday], and he said he would explain to the general manager about the money. Because at that time, they had not taken a decision to accept that money, they were still going to talk about it,” the employee testified.  

Read more: Ramaphosa off the hook in Phala Phala case after NPA declines to prosecute 

It was unclear whether Ramaphosa and the general manager would “accept” the money because most clients paid via the bank, according to his testimony. 

It is unclear why such a massive transaction of R8-million was conducted in cash, and in foreign currency especially when clients “usually” paid via bank transfer. 

And if the president was aware, did he explicitly sanction the decision to keep the money in a safe and later hidden inside a couch? 

Four days later, on 30 December, the acting manager said he was about to take time off work, but he was uneasy leaving the money in the safe because everybody working on the farm had access to the room in which the safe was kept.  

“I was afraid to leave the money inside the safe because everyone has access to the room, because we kept the documents of the farm. I was afraid to leave it there because if it ended up not being there, I would be in trouble.”   

He then decided to move the money to a different wing of the farm, to Ramaphosa’s main house, which has cameras, stashing it inside a couch in what he said was a spare bedroom that was barely used even when Ramaphosa was around.  

The witness went into detail about how he concealed the cash by placing it under the cushions of the couch, which he then covered with Ramaphosa’s golf bags.   

After stashing the money, he left the premises and returned to the farm on 13 January 2020, and confirmed that the money was still where he had left it. 

He told the court that operations went on as usual at the farm, but nearly a month later, on 10 February, when he was in Mpumalanga, he received a frantic call from a housekeeper at the main house summoning him back immediately.   

On arrival, he immediately sensed that something was wrong and inspected the house. He realised that the sliding door was ajar, there was a window with a scratch and a broken handle, while several security cameras had been tampered with or damaged. When he entered the room in which he had hidden the cash and inspected the couch, the money was no longer there.   

He told the court that he immediately informed Ramaphosa, who was not in the country at the time. He also alerted the general manager about the break-in, but did not disclose that money was missing. Ramaphosa’s guard arrived at the property only days later.  

This part of the testimony also raises a number of questions including: 

• Why wasn’t there a more reliable system for dealing with large sums of money on the farm?
• Why was the theft not immediately reported to the police? and
• Why did the employee only alert Ramaphosa and his head of security, but not the general manager or law enforcement?

The housekeeper

The housekeeper, who also cannot be named because of the court order, testified about the events of 10 February 2020, which led her to summon the acting general manager to the main house. 

She told the court that she had gone to the house to fetch a flask when she noticed something unusual and what looked like a break-in.  

Read more: Phala Phala – A timeline of what we know (and don’t know) so far 

The acting general manager arrived and inspected the room. The housekeeper, who said she only cleans the room when the owner is visiting, testified that she had no knowledge of any money hidden in the couch.

Her testimony also raises several questions: 

• Why was she in the main house at all fetching a flask, if she only cleaned when the owner was present?
• Why was such a large sum left in a location accessible to staff? and
• Who authorised the cash to be hidden in the couch, and why did the housekeeper have to summon the acting manager, who was in a different province, to come and inspect the house when she too could have alerted law enforcement, among others.

The arguments

For the State, the case is clear: prosecutors plan to call 22 witnesses and will argue that David, described as the mastermind, and Floriana Joseph are guilty as charged, pointing to evidence that their lives “dramatically” changed after the robbery. The defence, expected to call five witnesses, will attempt to counter that narrative.

The trial is set to continue on 1 October 2025, with expectations that it will shed further light on what really transpired inside the president’s farm, and what Ramaphosa himself knew, authorised or failed to act upon.

The matter dates back to June 2022, when former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser filed a criminal complaint alleging that Ramaphosa concealed the theft of millions of dollars hidden in couches and mattresses at Phala Phala. 

Fraser claimed $4-million had been stolen, sparking criminal investigations and a political storm that tested Ramaphosa’s presidency and fuelled calls for his resignation.

That storm culminated in the appointment of an independent panel under Section 89 of the Constitution to determine whether Ramaphosa had violated the law or the Code of Executive Ethics.  

The panel found prima facie evidence suggesting he may have acted inconsistently with his office. Yet, when the report was tabled in Parliament in December 2022, the ANC majority closed ranks: 214 MPs voted against its adoption, effectively blocking an impeachment inquiry. DM