Staff Writer

The mastermind in the Cyril Ramaphosa farm theft Imanuwela David has been quoted by South African media saying that they did not take all the money they found stashed under the furniture.

Sunday Times reported that they obtained audio from David talking about the robbery the gang carried out in February 2020 at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in the Limpopo.

Although media reports based on former South Africa’s spy chief Arthur Fraser’s affidavit have been talking about anything between US$4m and US$8m, the Sunday Times says David talks about just US$800 000 wrapped in plastic and was in bundles of US$100,000.

Fraser in his affidavit also says there were five gang members – David, Erkki Shikongo, Urbanus Shaumbwako, Petrus Muhekeni and Petrus Afrikaner.

In the Sunday Times story, David says there were four men and a woman – the cleaner at the farm.

Muhekeni has already distanced himself from the theft at Ramaphosa’s farm. He told The Namibian last week that he was never anywhere near the farm and that his cousin used his licence to insure a vehicle said to have been bought with the stolen money.

According to the paper, David tells an unidentified interviewer that they took just US$800 000 (N$12,8m).

The paper says David denies stealing a big amount.

“In the newspapers [they say] the money is US$7m. But it was not like that. You cannot be stupid to carry money like that you go to the country [Namibia]… “I took three bundles [of US$100,000] … So, it comes to R4.5m-R5m.”

David, the paper says, tells the interviewer that his cousin Eric and himself got to know about the money from a cleaner at the farm.

“She’s a cleaner. She came across a sofa full of US money, dollars. Then she sent a picture to my cousin. Erik said you must be lying; take a sample and bring it. She took a sample of 200 notes.”

The paper says after the gang had established that the money was not counterfeit, they planned to steal it.

“We just walked inside… there was no armed robbery… We took out the window and went inside. We went to the sofa. It’s a leather sofa.”

Once inside the house, the woman told the gang not to take all the money because it was the president’s money.

“That lady said ‘don’t take everything because you’re dealing with the president… they gonna f**k you up and they gonna f**k me up’. We took about $800,000. We are four — four guys and a lady.

“I got my share of US$300 000. The guy took, and the other guy took. Then we gave that lady US$200 000.”

David also talks about how the police raided his home in Milnerton, Cape Town, a month after the theft.

“Guys came with the police. They just took the Rolex; they beat us and … they asked ‘where’s the money?’ They took out the whole ceiling of the house. They said they want the money. We said ‘no, the money was spent’… then they throw us in the bush and leave us.”

The Sunday Times says David told the unidentified interviewer that he spent some of the money in Cape Town nightclubs and that on his birthday, he spent US$10 000 on alcohol.

In June 2020, David fled to Namibia and was arrested at 77 on Independence in Windhoek. When he was arrested, the police found US$1,100 and N$300 in cash, a N$28 000 TAG Heuer watch, a N$280 000 Rolex watch, a N$163 000 gold chain and four cellphones.

Namibian authorities charged David with an immigration offence and failure to declare goods. David was asked to pay N$20 000 or spend 36 months in prison. He paid the fine.

The Sunday Times also says that the office of the South African justice minister Ronald Lamola is probing claims made by Namibian authorities that their counterparts did not cooperate regarding the arrest of David.

Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, says: “We have noted reports about the request for information from the Namibian authorities. We can confirm that there are ongoing engagements through the diplomatic channels to establish if there is a record of the request.”

Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa has been quoted saying that the South African authorities were not forthcoming with a request made as to whether a crime was committed in which David was involved.

Imalwa said the authorities reached out when they discovered money being deposited into Namibia accounts from South Africa.

“We wanted to know if there was a reported case in South Africa because we could apply our Poca [Prevention of Organised Crime Act].

“If an offence was committed, such as theft, we could have charged him. I can’t say there was no co-operation; you can’t expect a country to respond quickly. You can’t say that the other country also delayed the matter,” she told the Sunday Times.