Phala Phala burglary trial to proceed as discharge bid by accused is dismissed
via The Citizen1 min read
Magistrate Peter Manthata has dismissed a Section 174 discharge application by Imanuwela David and siblings Froliana and Ndilinasho Joseph, the three individuals accused of stealing $580,000 from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm. The ruling orders the trial to continue to the defense phase, stating that sufficient evidence exists for all three to answer the charges against them. The accused had sought to have the case dismissed after the state concluded its presentation, having called over 20 witnesses. The three are alleged to have broken into the Bela Bela farm in 2020. Separately, President Cyril Ramaphosa denied involvement in unauthorized investigations into the theft earlier in April. An Independent Police Investigative Directorate Ipid report indicated that Major General Wally Rhoode, head of Ramaphosa’s police security unit, concealed the theft. The Ipid report also noted that while Ramaphosa informed Rhoode about the break-in in 2020, a case was only registered with the police two years later, after former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser exposed the theft.
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