Phala Phala witness admits to using car of suspects' mother after retracting police statement

A state witness in the Phala Phala burglary trial admitted in court that he has been using a car belonging to the mother of two of the accused suspects, Froliana Joseph and Ndilinasho Joseph.

The admission came as the witness, who cannot be named, was being questioned by the prosecutor, just after he retracted a statement he had previously given to the police.

The siblings, along with Imanuwela David, are charged with breaking into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm in February 2020 and stealing $580,000 in cash.

They appeared at the Modimolle Regional Court in Limpopo on Wednesday.

The witness testified that he was illiterate and accused the police of coercing him to sign the statement. The State, however, denied this claim, leading to a trial within a trial to determine whether the statement could be admitted as evidence.

State Prosecutor Nkheteni Munyai questioned the witness's motive for recanting the statement, arguing that the car connection shows he may be protecting the accused.

"When one has regard to what could be the motive for the witness to recant the contents of the statement that was presented to him. He has conceded that he is using the car of accused number 2 (Froliana Joseph) and accused number 3 (Ndilinasho Joseph )'s mother, which clearly shows that he is protecting either accused 2 or 3 insofar as the contents of his statement could implicate them," Munyai said.

Despite admitting to using the vehicle, the witness maintained that police had forced him to sign the initial statement.

A judgment on the trial within a trial will be delivered on December 8, when the matter is set to resume.