25 March 2023 | 01:05 PM

Watch: Sam Sole speaks on Ramaphosa’s stolen millions – the Namibian connection

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AmaBhungane recently published a story following the news of theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo – our story followed the trail to Namibia.

In 2020 Namibian authorities identified suspects following a break-in at Ramaphosa’s farm, but sources allege SA intelligence back-channels were used to get the Namibians to let the matter go. Now Arthur Fraser’s criminal complaint puts the President on the spot: what did he do, what did he know and why the cover-up?

What we do know is that authorities in Namibian law enforcement agencies were alerted to about N$6-million (about R6-million) transferred by the suspects into Namibian accounts between February and May 2020.

One of the suspects, Imanuwela David, a Namibian-born individual who also carries a South African passport, was arrested after illegally crossing into Namibia on or about 12 June 2020.

Amabhungane on Saturday reached David via WhatsApp but he claimed we had the wrong number and he didn’t know what we were talking about, despite the number being confirmed by one of his friends. He then blocked us.

By 16 June 2020 Namibian journalists were already aware that David was alleged to be linked to a “theft worth around R50-million from a farm belonging to President Cyril Ramaphosa”.

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INVESTIGATOR:

Aisha Abdool Karim

Aisha is a freelance science and health reporter. She is joining the amaB team to work on a project about water and sanitation. Aisha’s passion for long-form narrative and investigative journalism was sparked while doing her master’s degree at Columbia University in New York. After graduating in 2018, she returned to South Africa and began working as a general beat reporter for the Daily Maverick. Aisha joined the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism in 2020 to focus on science reporting. During her time there, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively — from fact-checking harmful medical misinformation to unpacking the science behind vaccine development. Aisha’s special interests include analysing health systems and in-depth coverage of public health issues and infectious diseases. She also loves spreadsheets and digging through data.

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