INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
Shauwn Mpisane
Durban – Shauwn Mpisane has agreed to hand over R2.6 million in cash a month to curator Trevor White, the man tasked with “restraining” R70m worth of assets pending the outcome of a criminal fraud and corruption case against her.
And, White reveals in a report lodged in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, this cash comes from current contracts her company, Zikhulise Cleaning Maintenance and Transport, has with the eThekwini Municipality and KwaDukuza Municipality, which have already raked in more than R154m in just five months this year.
The personal and business finances of the wealthy businesswoman and her husband, former metro policeman S’bu Mpisane, have been laid bare through their agreement with White, which was tabled in the Pietermaritzburg High Court this week.
White took control of their money and their companies at the end of January this year in terms of an order granted on January 31 which saw the immediate seizure of their luxury fleet of cars from their showroom-styled garage at their plush La Lucia home.
The operation by the Asset Forfeiture Unit is linked to charges Shauwn Mpisane, as the sole member of Zikhulise, is facing in Durban’s commercial crime court that she submitted false documentation to the Construction Industry Development Board to boost gradings and obtain tenders from the Department of Public Works.
Should she be convicted, the restrained assets can be forfeited to the state.
While the couple are opposing the restraint order – to be argued before Judge Sharmain Balton next week – they have, in the interim, concluded the agreement with White so that they can continue running their personal and business affairs without his interference.
White said he had R48.6m under restraint, including the vehicles, valued at R22.7m; four properties, including the couple’s luxury La Lucia home; household contents; and the first two instalments of R2.6m each.
Still to be restrained were insurance policies valued at R2.3m, five properties in the Mkhimpi Family Trust and about R5m, the balance of the cash instalments.
White said the cash was coming from contracts Zikhulise had with the two municipalities and the Department of Public Works which were worth, in total, R520m.
l In a separate matter which came before the Durban High Court again yesterday, the South African Revenue Service has provisionally liquidated another Mpisane company, Ukhozi, involved in low-cost housing contracts, claiming it owes more than R9m in tax.
The only “asset” of the close corporation, Sars alleged, was an R8m loan it gave to Mpisane, after which she stopped trading to avoid her debts.
Sars obtained the provisional order in March this year.
In affidavits before the court, officials said bank accounts reflected payments to Ukhozi between 2006 and 2009 from the eThekwini Municipality of almost R47m.
But, they alleged, Mpisane did not comply with her tax obligations and, after numerous demands, only made limited payments of about R5.5m.
A cheque for R1m issued in May 2010 had bounced.
Opposing the liquidation order being made final, Mpisane said the court action was simply a ploy to force her into a tax inquiry to get evidence to be used against her in her tax fraud trial.
She said the application should be held over until that was finalised and until the asset forfeiture application was heard because, should she win, she would simply secure the claim and then litigate.
She denied any deliberate non-compliance, saying she believed she did not owe the tax, and new statements were being drawn up for assessment.
“The winding down of the business was a consequence of the structure of the industry… there were no available tenders which it sought to obtain,” she said.
The matter was adjourned.
Mpisane will be back in the Durban Regional Court facing tax fraud charges relating to Zikhulise later this month.
tania.broughton@inl.co.za
The Mercury
