Phala Phala: Dentist says accused 1 paid him R250k to make 'grills' for him

A social media-famous dentist has testified in the Phala Phala trial that he was paid more than R250,000 to make "grills" for one of the accused.

Grills are removable dental jewellery, usually made with expensive metal like gold or silver.

Testifying in the Modimolle Regional Court in Limpopo, the dentist said that they were requested by accused number one, Imanuwela David.

David, along with siblings Froliana and Ndilinasho Joseph, is accused of breaking and entering into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm in February 2020 and stealing 580,000 US dollars in cash.

The dentist said that in February 2021, he was contacted by David through the social media application Instagram.

The dentist said that he was interested in a set of top and bottom grills that cost R253,000.

At the time, the dentist said that his clinic was based in Rosebank, Johannesburg.

The dentist said that David paid 80 percent of the deposit before coming to the shop for measurements.

"Once the grills were finished and I was happy with fit and this and that, I met with accused number one [David], delivered the grills, put them in and once I was happy they fit and he was happy, he paid his balance."

The dentist said that David gave him verbal consent to post a picture of him wearing the grills on the company’s Instagram page; however, the defence said that this was done without David's consent.