Court Convicts Imanuwela David in Phala Phala Cash Theft

A South African court has convicted Imanuwela David of stealing more than $580,000 (£432,000) in cash from Phala Phala, the cattle farm owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa in Limpopo province, closing one chapter of a case that has shadowed the head of state since 2020.

David was found guilty on Monday of theft, as well as conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal at the property. The court heard that he broke into the farm in February 2020 and took the cash from a sofa on the premises. What followed was a rapid conversion of stolen money into assets: a spending spree that included three Mercedes-Benz cars, one of them bought for his girlfriend, a Porsche, two Volkswagens, diamond-encrusted Rolex watches and a house.

His explanation for the money did not survive scrutiny. David told the court he had earned it through business ventures involving diamonds and Bitcoin, claims the court rejected. Judges also established that of the two people convicted, he was the only one who had any of the stolen cash in his bank account.

A second conviction followed in the same proceedings. Froliana Joseph, who worked as a cleaner at the farm, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal. Her brother, Ndilinasho Joseph, was acquitted on all charges. The next procedural step is already scheduled: pre-sentencing will take place on 13 November.

The verdict lands in a case that has generated years of political and legal friction, known publicly as the Farmgate scandal. The theft itself remained largely unknown until 2022, when Arthur Fraser, South Africa’s former intelligence chief and an ally of former president Jacob Zuma, brought it to light. Fraser claimed at the time that Ramaphosa had concealed the theft from the police and the tax authorities.

Ramaphosa acknowledged that the burglary took place but has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The political consequences, however, proved difficult to contain. An independent panel, convened in the same year, found that the president could have questions to answer over the burglary. Members of parliament subsequently voted against establishing an impeachment inquiry, effectively shelving the panel’s report.

That decision did not hold. In May of this year, the constitutional court ruled that parliament had acted unlawfully by setting the report aside. The institutional contest continued into July, when Ramaphosa blocked the parliamentary inquiry through a provincial court.

The convictions of David and Froliana Joseph now give the criminal side of the affair a concrete outcome, though sentencing remains pending. The record shows a case that moved through multiple institutions over several years: a police matter concealed or disclosed depending on the account, a panel whose report was shelved, a constitutional court finding that the shelving itself was unlawful, and a provincial court order halting the inquiry. The pre-sentencing proceedings on 13 November will determine the final consequences for those convicted, while the broader questions raised by the panel’s findings remain unresolved in the political arena.

Further background on the case is available in the original report at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vgrvpk4l6eo.