Court orders dethroned Vhavenda king to repay R 17.3m in VBS case

By Marcus Moloko

The Gauteng High Court has ordered dethroned VhaVenda king Toni Mphephu‑Ramabulana, his wife Hulisani, nephew lawyer Oscar Thovhakale, and their Dzata Trust to repay more than R17.3 million to the liquidators of Vele Investments, the majority shareholder of the collapsed VBS Mutual Bank.

An IOL report outlines how the ruling follows allegations that Mphephu‑Ramabulana and his family benefited from luxury gifts and property purchases funded through Vele Investments between 2015 and 2017.

These included a Range Rover, BMW 750Li, two Mercedes‑Benz V250s, and a Dainfern property worth R7.2 million. Liquidators argued that these assets were acquired using proceeds of fraud and theft linked to the VBS scandal.

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In their defence, the former king and his co‑respondents maintained that the transfers were customary gifts, known in Venda tradition as