{"id":229845,"date":"2022-06-27T14:16:05","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T12:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/article\/siu-freezes-mansion-of-former-lottery-chair\/"},"modified":"2022-06-27T14:16:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T12:16:05","slug":"siu-freezes-mansion-of-former-lottery-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/siu-freezes-mansion-of-former-lottery-chair\/","title":{"rendered":"SIU freezes mansion of former lottery chair"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This photo of the former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chair Alfred Nevhutanda\u2019s house is from an estate agent\u2019s advert. You can see Nevhutanda deliver a sermon from the balcony of the house in this YouTube video<\/a>. (Copied for fair use.)<\/p>\n

A judge has granted a preservation order<\/a> on the multi-million rand luxury home and furniture of former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chair Alfred Nevhutanda.<\/p>\n

Besides the house, the order was also granted against Vhutanda Investments, a private company that owns the property. According to official company records, Nevhutanda is the sole director.<\/p>\n

At the time the home was purchased, set on its own private two-hectare estate in Pretoria, Nevhutanda was the long-time chairperson of the NLC board.<\/p>\n

The order, which was sought by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), was granted after a secret virtual hearing presided over by Special Tribunal Judge Soma Naidoo on 15 June.<\/p>\n

The judge also instructed the SIU to initiate civil proceedings against Nevhutanda and Vhutanda \u201cfor the disgorgement of secret profits improperly earned\u201d during Nevhutanda\u2019s tenure as the NLC board chair.<\/p>\n

Judge Naidoo also ordered a \u201creview and setting aside\u201d of the decisions by the NLC to grant funding to five non-profits, which between them received tens of millions of rands for infrastructure projects. These include two Lottery-funded old age homes and a drug rehabilitation centre that have never been completed.<\/p>\n

In terms of the order, both Nevhutanda and Vhutanda Investments are \u201cprohibited from selling, disposing of, leasing, transferring, donating, or dealing any manner whatsoever with respect to the immovable property and the furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SIU said in a statement: \u201cThe property is now under the care of a curator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SIU will institute civil proceedings within 60 days, which seeks to review and set aside the decisions by the NLC to approve funding for War_Rna NPO, Inqaba Yokulinda, Mushumo Ushava Zwanda, Simingaye Community Project NPO and Zibsilor NPO, and recover financial losses suffered by the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also included in the order are two private companies. One of them, Mishone Trading 11, was identified by the SIU as a \u201cvehicle to distribute NLC funds\u201d to businesses \u201cdirected by\u201d members of NLC chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

Several individuals involved with the affected non-profits are also named in the preservation order.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The] SIU probe has revealed that the property was funded by non-profit organisations (NPOs) with the money they have received, under the auspices of grant funding, from the National Lotteries Commission,\u201d the SIU posted on its official Twitter account.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive NPOs applied for grant funding at the NLC and were jointly funded to the tune of over R100-million. Immediately after funding was received, the NPOs transferred money to a legal firm for the purchase of the property and the furniture,\u201d reads another tweet.<\/p>\n

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Construction has been abandoned at the Zibsilor rehab centre in Soshenguve. It had received R29.5-million from the NLC. Photos: Raymond Joseph<\/p>\n

GroundUp revealed earlier this year <\/a>how non-profit organisations that had received Lottery grants contributed millions of rands, both directly and indirectly, to help pay for Nevhutanda\u2019s lavish R27-million mansion. It was being marketed by a London-based estate agent for \u00a32.42 million at the time Nevhutanda bought it in 2018.<\/p>\n

The GroundUp investigation uncovered evidence that the money was paid over a six-month period, between September 2017 and March 2018, directly to Couzyn Hertzog & Horak Attorneys, a law firm acting for the seller of the property. This money was held in trust by the attorneys until the property was transferred to Vhutanda.<\/p>\n

The total cost of the house, including over R3-million in transfer fees, was more than R30-million. Yet it has a municipal valuation of only R5.3-million.<\/p>\n

The nonprofits affected by the preservation order are:<\/p>\n