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

The strange 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. 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 o

See Full Page