THE son of General Wally Rhoode, the head of SAPS presidential protection services and the man deeply implicated along with President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Phala Phala scandal, was found dead yesterday after he had been reported missing.
The Sunday Independent can confirm that Warren Samuel Rhoode was found on Friday with multiple stab wounds and had been killed under mysterious circumstances.
Unconfirmed reports claim the 31-year-old was kidnapped and killed in retaliation for his father’s role in the Phala Phala clandestine investigation.
“The men who robbed the president’s farm are based in the Western Cape, even though they are originally from Namibia, and there have been claims that some of them were allegedly tortured by Wally and his gang that was involved in the Phala Phala investigation,” said a source from the Cape Town underworld, who asked not to be named.
The source further said the gang underworld tried to assist the police when they heard that Samuel was missing, “but there were conflicting reports”.
“Samuel was a harmless boy – he couldn’t hurt a fly – but his father made a lot of enemies, we were told, especially during the Phala Phala investigation. He apparently burned a lot of people in the Western Cape. It isn’t a fact, but an allegation,” the source said.
Another source claimed that the fact that the alleged mastermind of the Phala Phala farm robbery, Immanuwela David, joined a gang in the Western Cape “for protection after there were several attempts on his life” shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“This David guy might not have ordered the hit on Samuel, but the gang members do it just to show him what more they can do for him,” he said.
He also mentioned that several people, not only the robbers, were allegedly tortured by Rhoode and his gang during their alleged investigation.
“There was a guy dealing in forex on the black market, where the robbers hid most of their cash, and he was severely tortured and ended up in hospital. After the guys were arrested, they took the police to this guy’s establishment, where more money was discovered after he was tortured,” the source said.
Former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser went to Rosebank police station on June 1 last year and opened a criminal case against Rhoode and President Cyril Ramaphosa in which he accused them of kidnapping and torture, among other allegations.
Fraser reported that five Namibian nationals broke into Ramaphosa’s farm in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, and stole an undisclosed amount of US dollars in February 2020.
The matter was not reported to the police, and Rhoode allegedly assembled a clandestine team that he used to track down the robbers. He then allegedly tortured them to give up the stolen money.
After the men were tortured, they were allegedly paid R150 000 for their silence.
Fraser claimed there had been between $4 million (almost R73m) and $8m stashed at Phala Phala, where the Namibian nationals carried out the robbery.
It has now been established that Rhoode and his team managed to recover some of the money, but it has not been made public exactly how much was stolen from the farm or subsequently recovered.
Samuel Rhoode was last seen alive on April 23 in Eindhoven, Delft, in the Western Cape. He was driving his car, a black VW Polo Vivo, with a Gauteng registration number.
It has been reported that Samuel was hijacked a few months ago and his other car stolen.
Apparently, these cars were bought for him by his father.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe yesterday confirmed that Rhoode’s son had been killed, and that police were investigating the circumstances surrounding his murder.
“A murder case has been registered, and investigations into this case are continuing. No arrests have been made, and no further comment will be provided at this stage,” Mathe said.
She said police had mobilised resources to find Samuel’s killers.
Anthula Messeur, the spokesperson for the Rhoode family, has requested that the family be given space during this difficult time.