By Raymond Joseph.
The brother of the former chief operating officer (COO) of the Lottery is seeking to overturn a preservation order on three properties, GroundUp reported.
He, as well as the wife of the former COO, have claimed in affidavits that R3 million towards the purchase of one of these properties, a house in Bryanston, Johannesburg, was a loan to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, to help Mbalula buy the house.
The paper trail indicates that this R3 million towards the house purchase ultimately came from Lottery grant money.
The wife of former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) chief operating officer Philemon Letwaba has claimed under oath that her company loaned R3 million to then-sports minister Mbalula to help him buy a luxury home in the upmarket suburb of Bryanston in Johannesburg.
Letwaba resigned under a cloud while on suspension pending a disciplinary inquiry, where he would have faced charges of money laundering and abusing his position to enrich himself and his family.
His wife, Rabotile Malomane, the sole director of Ironbridge Travelling Agency and Events, made her bombshell claim in an affidavit lodged as part of an application to overturn a preservation order on the house, frozen by the Special Tribunal.
Besides the Bryanston house, the Tribunal also froze two other properties linked to Letwaba, including Malomane’s own home in a luxury Pretoria gated estate. This, after hearing evidence from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Assets Forfeiture Unit that they were all bought with money syphoned from lottery grants.
Malomane’s claim about the loan to Mbalula was made in a confirmatory affidavit submitted in support of a founding affidavit by Letwaba’s older brother, Johannes Letwaba.
Their affidavits form part of an attempt to lift the preservation order on the house.
Malomane and Johannes Letwaba both claim that the funds for the alleged loan to Mbalula came from fees that Ironbridge was paid by Lulamisa Community Development for work it did on Durban’s Commonwealth Games bid. Lulamisa received R80 million from the NLC to help fund the bid.
Mbalula had approached Malomane for help as he was “apparently … short of R3 million to secure the property”, Letwaba wrote in his affidavit.
Responding to detailed questions about the house and the claims made in the affidavit, including that he borrowed R3 million from Ironbridge, Mbalula said: “I cannot answer to any affidavit not written by myself.”
He told GroundUp that he wanted “to restate” the statement – in this story – by Esethu Hasane, his former spokesperson.
Hasane previously told GroundUp: “The minister has nothing to do with the mentioned property. Any intention to buy it in the past did not happen. Therefore, the questions about this property are best placed for answers by the owners of the property and must be referred to them. The minister cannot account for a property that he does not own.”
The Mbalulas had initially made a cash offer of R5.6 million for the house “on behalf of a company to be formed”, but then suddenly dropped out.
The original offer to purchase was in the name of Mbalula and his wife, Nozuko. Crossed out on the document are the words “for and on behalf of a company to be formed”. Nozuko Mbalula signed the offer, but her signature was then also crossed out. It was never signed by the sellers.
Instead, Upbrand Properties, a company which has been at the centre of lottery corruption and that is closely linked to the Letwaba brothers, bought the house after making an identical offer.
Solly Siweya, an associate of Mbalula’s, acted on behalf of Upbrand.
Letwaba claimed in his affidavit that “the understanding … even though this was not reduced to writing, [was] that Upbrand will hold the property until such time as the R3 million was repaid”.
There is no explanation so far as to where the balance of R2.6 million of the purchase price of the house came from, even though Letwaba and Malomane both say that Ironbridge only contributed R3 million towards the purchase price.
Letwaba wrote: “Ms Malomane was prepared to loan the monies she earned in the performance of the contract with Lulamisa, to Mbalula, on delivery of some form of security to ensure repayment of the loan.
“I don’t know who made payment of the balance, I can only assume it was paid (I note with interest the fact that applicant [the NPA] and/or the SIU failed to advise by whom the balance was paid).”
Letwaba further wrote: Despite him having allegedly renounced his association with the property publicly, it didn’t prevent Mr Mbalula from moving tenants into the Bryanston property, him appropriating the rent paid. As Mbalula failed to repay the loan, Upbrand took action and had the tenants evicted from the property.
In her affidavit, Malomane wrote: “I further confirm that Ironbridge never entered into a written loan agreement with Mbalula. The logical explanation, therefore, being that in the event of his default, Upbrand would utilise the property to recover any outstanding monies, it acquired a real right as being the registered owner of the property.
“To the best of my belief, Mbalula and his family moved into the property and have since vacated. As matters stand, he is in default and failed to repay the loan.”
She said that, even though Johannes Letwaba “constantly fills me in as to the state of affairs in respect of the Bryanston property, I have no personal involvement”.