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Man found guilty of stealing $580,000 cash from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's farm
The theft came to light in 2022 after former intelligence chief Arthur Fraser alleged that Ramaphosa had concealed the robbery from the police and authorities.
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A South African court has found a man guilty of stealing more than $580,000 (around ₹5.4 crore) in cash from a farm owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a case that triggered a political scandal and brought the president’s position under scrutiny.
According to a report by the BBC, Imanuwela David was found guilty of theft on Monday, as well as conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo province in 2020. Froliana Joseph, a cleaner at the property, was also convicted of conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal. Her brother, Ndilinasho Joseph, was acquitted of all charges.
David was accused of breaking into the cattle farm in February 2020 and stealing cash hidden inside a sofa. Following the theft, he allegedly went on a spending spree, purchasing several luxury vehicles, including three Mercedes cars, a Porsche, two Volkswagens, diamond-encrusted Rolex watches and a house.
During the trial, David claimed that he had earned the money through businesses involving diamonds and Bitcoin. However, the court rejected his claims and found that he was the only one among the two convicted individuals who had any of the stolen cash deposited in his bank account.
The court is scheduled to hear pre-sentencing proceedings on November 13.
(Also Read: Florida cop arrested for allegedly stealing dead man’s identity, taking over his home)
What is the FarmGate scandal?
The theft came to light in 2022 after former intelligence chief Arthur Fraser alleged that Ramaphosa had concealed the robbery from the police and tax authorities.
The scandal, known as FarmGate, centres on allegations that around $4 million was stolen during a break-in at Ramaphosa’s privately owned Phala Phala game farm in 2020. The president acknowledged that a robbery had taken place but denied wrongdoing and disputed the amount allegedly stolen. He maintained that the cash, approximately $580,000, had come from the sale of buffalo at the farm.
The allegations sparked calls for an investigation into the president’s conduct and raised the possibility of impeachment. An independent parliamentary panel found in 2022 that Ramaphosa had questions to answer over the burglary, including whether he may have violated constitutional requirements. However, Parliament voted against pursuing an impeachment inquiry.
The matter returned to the spotlight in May 2026, when South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled that Parliament had acted unlawfully by shelving the panel’s report in 2022. The ruling paved the way for lawmakers to refer the report to an impeachment committee for consideration.
In July, Ramaphosa blocked the parliamentary inquiry through a provincial court, maintaining that the allegations against him were based on rumours and that the report contained serious flaws.
Despite the scandal, Ramaphosa ruled out resigning from office. “I will not resign,” he said. “To do so would be to give credence to a panel report that unfortunately has grave flaws,” he added.
