- Police photos show boxes and a bicycle where the couch once stood after the 2020 burglary at Cyril Ramaphosa’s farmhouse.
- Three people are on trial for the theft, accused of stealing millions in cash that was never properly reported to the authorities.
A couch that allegedly hid bundles of US dollars vanished before police arrived to investigate the Phala Phala farm burglary.
Burglars broke into the Bela Bela farmhouse on 9 February 2020. They were accused of stealing at least US$580,000, stashed under the couch cushions.
But police only visited the farm more than two years later, on 27 October 2022. By then, the couch was gone.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said staff sent the couch to be reupholstered, and that it did not require the president’s permission.
In court this week, photos showed the spot where the couch once stood. Boxes, a bicycle and Christmas-wrapped goods now filled the space.
Three accused, Imanuwela David and siblings Froliana and David Joseph, are facing trial. They pleaded not guilty.
The burglary was only reported in 2022.
The farm’s former manager, Sylvester Ndlovu, is accused of hiding the money after a Sudanese businessman, Hazim Mustafa, allegedly paid it for buffalo that were never delivered.
Mustafa now faces charges of faking papers to prove the money entered South Africa legally.
The scandal became public only when former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid charges in 2022.
Pictured above: Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image source: File
