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The accused, Imanuwela David, Froliana Joseph and her brother Ndilinasho Joseph, who are linked to the theft of $580,000 USD at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm, Phala Phala, appear in the Magistrate’s Court in Modimolle, South Africa October 7, 2024.
The Modimolle regional court in Limpopo has ruled that the fourth state witness in the Phala Phala farm theft case is a hostile witness.
The court has found that the witness has also lied that he cannot read nor write English.
The regional court has concluded a trial within a trial after the witness disputed his statement.
The trial will now proceed on Friday with a Cape Town car dealership manager testifying. Accused number one, Imanuwela David, bought a Range Rover Sport amounting to more than one and a half million rand and paid R5 000 on the speed point machine at the dealership.
David and his co-accused, the Joseph siblings, Floriana and Ndilinasho, stole $580 million at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm in February 2020.
David has been remanded in custody since his arrest in November 2023.
The trial within a trial started after the state’s fourth witness disputed his statement and told the court that he was forced to sign it by police. Imanuwela David and Joseph’s siblings, Floriana and Ndilinasho, are on trial at the Modimolle Regional Court. David and his co-accused stand accused of conspiring to commit the theft, theft and housebreaking to commit theft. David is said to be the mastermind. They broke into Ramaphosa’s farm in February 2020 and stole money stuffed in a sofa.
VIDEO | Phala Phala Theft: State applies for trial within a trial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1lrYZpGcWI
