WATCH | Siyenza boss' home under hammer
Mpeluza’s luxury R17m property to be auctioned after state attaches asset
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A mink-and-manure property on a golf estate in Lanseria, Johannesburg, bought for R17m in 2014 by controversial Siyenza Group chief executive Bongani Mpeluza, is set to go under the hammer.
The state successfully applied for its attachment at the Grahamstown high court on Tuesday.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) applied for a preservation order after it emerged that the property was bought with the proceeds of a fraudulent transaction.
The property is in the Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate built on golf legend Gary Player’s original farm.
In February 2014, Mpeluza’s company was awarded R119m by municipal infrastructure support agency (Misa) to build 66,000 ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets at six local municipalities under the jurisdiction of Amathole District Municipality (ADM).
On Tuesday, Mpeluza said he was unaware the matter was even in court.
“No one said anything to us.
“If we were consulted and aware of that, we would have gone and defended the matter,” was all he could say.
ADM participated in the contract through Misa and signed a controversial contract appointing Siyenza to do work priced at a total of R631m to supply and construct the VIP toilets.
Most of the work was never done and many areas of the province are blighted by materials littering the ground, and half-built toilets falling into their pits.
The R119m was transferred to the company by Misa but Siyenza’s tax certificates were later found to have been fraudulent.
NPA provincial spokesman Tsepo Ndwalaza yesterday confirmed that the AFU won the preservation order.
“Siyenza, a company wholly and solely owned by Mr Mpeluza, was awarded a tender for R119.2m in February 2014 by Misa to build the toilets,” Ndwalaza said.
“It was subsequently found that Siyenza had submitted two fraudulent tax clearance certificates for the years 2014 and 2015.
“Misa and Siyenza then cancelled the agreement by mutual understanding.
“This was because the award of the tender was induced by fraud, and Misa would not have awarded the tender to any person whose tax matters had not been declared to be in order by the South African Revenue Services.
“The monies received from such fraudulent tender were later used to buy this property for R17m cash,” the spokesman said.
He said the Lanseria property was currently registered in the name of Yellow Fancy (Pty) Ltd, a company owned by Mpeluza and his wife.
The order to attach Mpeluza’s property allowed him 14 days to make a presentation to the state as to why the property should not be forfeited and auctioned.