Trial under way for suspects in cash-in-sofa theft at South Africa president's farm

Three people went on trial in South Africa on Monday after being charged with housebreaking and stealing $580,000 in US banknotes hidden in a couch at a game farm owned by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The three defendants, two men and a woman who was a cleaner at the farm, are accused of breaking in and stealing the money in February 2020.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges on the opening day of the trial on Monday.

The case mired Ramaphosa in scandal and almost cost him his job after he was accused of tax evasion, money laundering and breaching foreign currency laws.

Impeachment attempt

He was also accused of trying to hide the existence of the money because the alleged theft happened in 2020, but was only revealed two years later.

The case has been dubbed “farmgate” in South Africa.

Ramaphosa, who campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, was cleared of wrongdoing and survived a vote in Parliament over whether impeachment charges should be brought against him, but he is still under scrutiny over why such a large amount of money was stashed in a piece of furniture.

Ramaphosa has said the money came from the legitimate sale of animals at his Phala Phala game and livestock farm in the northern province of Limpopo, but hasn't explained why it was stashed in a couch.