Phala Phala theft drew Namibia into probe later found unlawful – report

The theft of US$580 000 from President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in February 2020 drew Namibian Police into a cross-border investigation later found by the South African police watchdog to have involved unlawful conduct by South African police officers.

The suspects – Immanuela David, Froliana Joseph and Ndilinasho David Joseph – are Namibian nationals, some of whom allegedly fled across the border after the theft.

The trio’s crossing into Namibia triggered cross-border engagement, with South African Police Service (SAPS) officials meeting Namibian Police members at “no man’s land” near the Noordoewer border to exchange operational information.

A South African Public Protector’s report confirmed that the stolen money comprised proceeds from a buffalo sale kept in cash at the farm.

The report says the investigation moved into Namibia through informal police coordination.

The 14-page Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) report, made public this month, states that South African officials met an unnamed Namibian Police commissioner at “no man’s land” on 19 June 2020, where the matter was described as sensitive and potentially politically damaging, although this was not confirmed as a formal finding.

Serious findings

Despite this, informal cross-border coordination continued even as formal legal processes stalled.

The report also cites unlawful border crossings, bribery of suspects to conceal events, and the use of police resources in a manner that amounted to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

IPID records that surveillance and information-gathering targeted individuals, including Immanuela Natangwe David, Simon Hidjapo and Shooya Eerki Shikongo.

Moreover, despite the scale of the incident, IPID found that the theft was not recorded in SAPS crime statistics or annual reports.

The report also records allegations that suspects may have been apprehended in Namibia and brought into South Africa outside formal processes, although this was not conclusively established.

The Public Protector’s report further shows that Namibia initiated formal legal cooperation, submitting a request for mutual legal assistance on 3 September 2020 through its High Commission in Pretoria.

The request was forwarded on 16 September 2020, assessed in March 2021 and formally rejected in August 2021 for failing to meet legal requirements, with no revised submission made thereafter.

The same report does not make findings against Namibian authorities, but places Namibia at the centre of the cross-border dimension of the case without determining whether informal police coordination complied with legal procedures.

National security

The Public Protector also confirms that South African officials, including Major General Wally Rhoode and presidential envoy Bejani Chauke, travelled to Namibia during the period, although the visit is formally linked to national security engagements and not directly to the probe into the theft.

IPID, however, makes stronger findings on the conduct of the South African police.

According to IPID, the case began with a failure to report a crime after the president informed Major General Rhoode that cash from the sale of animals had been stolen from the farm.

No case docket was opened, and the matter was not processed through official police channels.

IPID found that Rhoode failed to notify National Commissioner General Khehla John Sitole, who only became aware of the incident through media reports after his retirement, in breach of Section 13(2) of the SAPS Act, which requires any officer aware of a prescribed offence to report it.

The report further states that SAPS members, including those from the Presidential Protection Unit, launched an unlawful, parallel investigation using state resources to trace suspects and recover money linked to what it characterises as a private matter involving the president's funds.

The report states that Rhoode’s own account amounts “to an acknowledgement that he acted on an unlawful instruction, yet proceeded without escalating the matter through proper command structures.

“Members concealed the crime of housebreaking and theft of cash at the state president’s farm and failed to report the matter at a police station in line with SAPS procedures,” IPID states.

IPID identifies Rhoode and Constable Hlulani Rekhoto as central figures in the operation, which included surveillance, tracking of suspects and travel under false pretences.

According to IPID, officers misrepresented travel purposes, falsified official records and misused state resources, including deploying personnel to Cape Town under the pretext of official meetings while pursuing leads linked to the theft.

Unlawful apprehension

The report shows the deployment was based on information from a source linked to the suspects, yet no proof of the stated meetings was produced, with surveillance activities carried out instead.

Among the most serious findings, IPID states, suspects were unlawfully apprehended, interrogated and, in some instances, kidnapped, with individuals brought to the farm and questioned outside formal legal procedures.

IPID details that one suspect was brought in with his hands tied behind his back with cable ties while questioning was underway, reinforcing findings of unlawful apprehension.

The report further details that interrogations were conducted outside formal processes, including sessions at the Phala Phala farm without case registration or procedural safeguards, pointing to a coordinated operation outside lawful policing frameworks.

IPID also links members of the operation to the Bela-Bela kidnapping case (CAS 78/03/2020), where members of the Joseph family initially opened a case but later withdrew it under unclear circumstances.

IPID concludes that these actions, including apprehension, transport and interrogation outside formal legal channels, formed part of an unregistered investigation that bypassed established criminal justice procedures.