And EMPD blue lights case resume
CCN Reporting
Two people convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign currency from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm will be sentenced this morning in the Modimolle Regional Court.
Imanuwela David, described as the mastermind, and Froliana Joseph, a former domestic worker at the farm, were found guilty of theft, housebreaking and money laundering. They stole $580 000 that was hidden inside a sofa at a property in Bela Bela, Limpopo, in February 2020.
A third accused, Ndilinasho Joseph, was acquitted.
Magistrate Peter Manthata said cellphone records provided sufficient evidence linking the pair. The court found that Joseph tipped David off about the foreign currency, which had been stashed after buffaloes were sold. Acting farm manager Sylvester Ndlovu confirmed during the trial that money was indeed hidden inside the sofa. The theft only became public knowledge in 2022.
In a separate matter on the East Rand: the case against former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi and former Ekurhuleni municipal officials Imogen Mashazi, Kemi Behari and Linda Gxasheka is expected to resume this morning at the Germiston Magistrates’ Court.
Mashazi, Behari and Gxasheka are accused of shielding Mkhwanazi from accountability over claims that he facilitated the provision of blue lights to alleged crime kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala through a fraudulent memorandum of agreement.
The matter was postponed last week so the defence teams could confirm whether they had received full disclosure of the case docket from the State.
Mkhwanazi also appeared last week in a related blue lights case alongside Matlala and Ekurhuleni fleet manager Chris Steyn.
Picture – Social Media
