It is what it is, says Imanuwela David

The alleged mastermind behind the Phala Phala farm robbery Imanuwela David says poverty and a ‘hunger for money’ pushed him to robbing South African president Cyril Ramaphosa of a collective N$12.7 million in 2020.In an exclusive interrogation recording – by an interviewer in the company of Wally Rhoode, the head of presidential protection service in South Africa - David admitted to having broken into Ramaphosa’s farm with three others, and splitting the American dollar bills among themselves.He took the largest amount - US$300 000 - amounting to N$4.7 million at yesterday’s exchange rate. In the audio recording shared with Namibian Sun, David said the domestic worker who alerted them to the presence of huge stashes of cash at the farm got US$200 000 (about N$3.1 million).“It’s poverty that pushed me to do that, you see? I am hungry for money. It’s not like I killed somebody. It is what it is,” he told his interrogators. “When others left for Namibia, and this thing was getting hot [in South Africa], I decided I too must go back home [Namibia] because my father is from there. My mother is a Motswana from Rustenburg,” he said.The robbery took place on 9 February 2020 at Ramaphosa’s farm in the Limpopo province.Around 12 June 2020, David sneaked into Namibia by crossing the Orange River in a canoe. He was arrested and charged for entering the country illegally. Upon his conviction, he was fined and deported in November that year.The interrogation by Rhoode and other security officials took place after he was released from jail in Namibia. ‘Don’t take all of it’He said: “When I crossed the river, they [the police] started looking for me in Namibia and they found me. That’s when I was arrested. I spent eight months in Namibia. “According to their story, apparently they found me with N$8 million in the bag. You cannot be stupid to carry money like that into the country. Me, I took US$300 000, which is almost N$5 million. We gave the lady US$200 000”.Phala Phala domestic worker Froliana Joseph was allegedly the one who stumbled upon the stash of cash – thought to be US$4 million – and alerted the men, who eventually broke into the farm and looted US$800 000.“She’s a cleaner. She came across a sofa with US dollars. She sent a photo to my cousin Erkki [Shikongo]. Erkkie said ‘you must be lying, take a sample of that money and bring it’. She took a 200 note and we realised it’s real money,” David said.“She told us where the money is. I was born in that area so I am very familiar with the president’s farm. We broke the window and found the money in a leather sofa. "The lady said ‘don’t take the whole money because you’re dealing with the president’s money’. We took US$800 000 which we split between ourselves.”‘I don’t know anything’Joseph, who was tracked down by News24 at an informal settlement called Vingerkraal on the border to Ramaphosa’s game farm, denied involvement in the saga. "I don’t know any of those guys... I have no idea about that story.“I just saw in the newspaper that my name is there and that I stole the money, [but] I don’t know anything," she said.

It is what it is, says Imanuwela David

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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It is what it is, says Imanuwela David

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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