THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained a preservation order to freeze a luxury property linked to the former chairperson of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), Professor Alfred Nevhutanda.
The order, which was sought by the SIU, was granted after a virtual hearing presided over by Special Tribunal Judge Soma Naidoo on 15 June.
The judge instructed the SIU to initiate civil proceedings against Nevhutanda and Vhutanda “for the disgorgement of secret profits improperly earned” during Nevhutanda’s tenure as the NLC board chair.
“The SIU probe has revealed that the property was funded by NPOs with the money they have received, under the auspices of grant funding, from National Lotteries Commission,” SIU spokesperson Kazier Kganyago said on Monday.
“At the time of the purchase, Prof Nevhuthanda was chairperson of the NLC board.”
Delivering the judgment, the judge ordered a “review and setting aside” 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.
In terms of the order, both Nevhutanda and Vhutanda Investments are “prohibited from selling, disposing of, leasing, transferring, donating, or dealing any manner whatsoever with respect to the immovable property and the furniture.”
The SIU said in a statement: “The property is now under the care of a curator.”
“The 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.”
“[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,” the SIU posted on its official Twitter account.
“Five 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,” reads another tweet.
The grant funding was meant to be for community empowerment projects such as athletics tracks in North West and Mpumalanga, old age homes in North West and Limpopo and a rehabilitation centre in Soshanguve.
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