Phala Phala: State witness claims he was threatened before making statement to police

A State witness in the matter of a burglary that happened at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm has testified in court that he was threatened before making a statement to police.

Imanuwela David and siblings, Froliana and Ndilinasho Joseph, are accused of breaking into Ramaphosa’s farm and stealing 580,000 US dollars.

The trial is on its second day on Wednesday, with a man who allegedly transported the robbers from Limpopo to Gauteng currently on the stand.

The State prosecutor has invoked section 189 of the Criminal Procedure Act against the driver, who cannot be named.

The provision deals with uncooperative witnesses and if granted by the magistrate, the driver could be sanctioned with a fine or imprisonment.

The State said there were discrepancies between his oral testimony in court on Wednesday and the written statement he gave to police.

Speaking through an interpreter, the driver said that he was not in the right headspace when he made his statement to police.

"I did go through the statement, it’s just that some of the questions that were posed to me, they were posed to me while I was still under pressure because certain people came at my home looking for accused number one [Imanuwela David]. Many people came, threatening me, looking for accused number one."

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