The figure for the allegedly stolen Phala Phala dollars is due to be amended, coming as available evidence shows that the arrested thieves scored way more than the $580,000 (now R10.8-million) President Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed.
Limpopo National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi confirmed that the disputed figure of the illegal dollars stolen in 2020, which whistleblower and former spy chief Arthur Fraser estimated to be in excess of $4-million (then R62-million), is going to be “amended.”
“I can confirm that the figure is going to be amended from $580,000 to a higher figure, which I can’t disclose at this moment as the investigation is still ongoing. The asset forfeiture unit is also investigating allegations that there were more assets linked to [chief suspect Imanuwela] David, including a house in Rustenburg,” Malabi-Dzhangi said.
Available evidence contained in bank records also showed that the money the alleged thieves spent after the theft, which Ramaphosa did not report to the police until Fraser laid criminal charges against him, exceeded the claimed $580,000 (R10 million then).
Ramaphosa claimed the foreign currency, which was not declared at the port of entry, was paid to him in cash by a mysterious Sudanese businessman – who has since disappeared – for the sale of buffalo on Christmas Day in 2020. Thus, it was not banked until stolen two months later while hidden under a couch.
Multimillion details to emerge during trial
Details are likely to be revealed as the high-profile trial that started on Tuesday at the Bela Bela magistrate’s court in Limpopo unfolds. The alleged heist mastermind, Imanuwela David, appeared alongside Phala Phala domestic worker Floriana Joseph and was charged with housebreaking and theft at Ramaphosa’s game farm.
In the charges the NPA had placed on record that only $580 000, which raised questions as available bank statements, which Sunday World has seen, showed that the robbers went on a shopping spree, splashing more than that after the robbery.
The Sunday World investigation can exclusively reveal that David alone spent more than R20-million after the robbery.
We can reveal that David:
- Received R9.8-million as cash deposits into his FNB account from February 2020 to May 2022.
- He opened two hair salons with no physical addresses during the level 5 lockdown and deposited R2-million in cash in each bank account.
- Spent over R10-million at a Benoni motor dealership in Gauteng, where he bought six luxury vehicles, paying in American dollars. The cars included a blue VW Golf R7, a blue VW Polo 1.2 TSI, a white BMW M5, a white Mercedes Benz G63, a grey Mercedes Benz G63, and a grey Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet.
And the reason David bought two Mercedes-Benz SUVs was that he crashed the first one within three days and asked the dealership to deliver the new one at the scene of the accident.
- He bought a house estimated to be worth about R5-million in someone’s name in Rustenburg, North West Province.
- He also spent R250 000 on grilled, diamond-studded teeth from a cosmetic dentist, Dr Alexander Adedian-Rawhani, who is based in Rosebank, Johannesburg, not far from the police station where former State Security boss Arthur Fraser opened the case against Ramaphosa and his head of security, General Wally Rhoode, for not reporting the Phala Phala farm robbery to the relevant law enforcement agencies.
When David was arrested in Namibia, in June 2020, after entering the country illegally by canoeing through the Orange River, he was allegedly found in possession of R8-million, a TAG Heuer watch worth Nambian $28 000, a Rolex watch worth N$280 000, and a gold chain worth N$163 000, as well as 11 US$100 notes and four cellphones.
One of the other men linked to the Phala Phala farm robbery, Errki Shikongo bought a flat for R1,775-million in cash in Bloubergsstrand, Cape Town, and a couple of cars, including a Ford Ranger.
Money transferred to Namibian accounts
Shikongo also bought a guest house for N$800,000 in his home country, Namibia, where he held his birthday party last Saturday.
The Namibian government, in their letter seeking mutual legal assistance from South Africa, also indicated that the alleged Phala Phala farm robbers transferred money from their South African bank accounts into Namibian bank accounts.
Shikongo transferred:
- N$1000 000 (R1m) from his South African account on March 11, 2020.
- N$500 000 (R500 000) to an account held in the name of Tafelelo Technologies.
- N$110 000 on March 6, 2020, to an account held in the name of Immanuel Shaduka.
- N$233,700 between April and May 2020 into an account held in the name of Ndapandula Aipanda.
- Another suspect, Petrus Afrikaner, also transferred:
- N$500 000 on February 26, 2020, into an account held in the name of Lovisa Kapenangolo
- N$20,000 on March 25, 2020, into an account held in the name of Hafeni Avula.
- N$ 1,200,000 into an account held in the name of Avula.
- N$50 000 into an account held in the name of Hilaraia Ndapewa between February 19 and June 11, 2020.
- N$2,900,000 between March 11 and 23, 2020, into an account held in the name of Clement Shikongo.
- N$500,000 into an account held in the name of Ana Bela on March 23, 2020.
‘Where did it all come from?’
While David only transferred N$86,500 into an account held in the name of Ndapandula Aipanda.
“The NPA is trying to create a narrative that only $580 000 was stolen from Phala Phala Farm, which is a blue lie as more money was stolen, and the question is: ‘Where did it all come from,” said a senior ANC member who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
