By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Thabiso Hamilton Ndlovu. Picture: Instagram.
An application which businessman Hamilton Ndlovu and others lodged for the stay of a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) review against them has been dismissed with costs.
This comes after Ndlovu, Thabiso Ndlovu, Ndlovu Hamilton Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Hamilton Projects CC and Feliham (Pty) Ltd approached the Special Tribunal.
According to papers in the review application, which was instituted on 6 October 2021, the SIU and NHLS want to “review and set aside the contracts the NHLS awarded to the applicant entities and other allegedly associated entities [and] they also seek consequential relief”.
But Ndlovu and the other applicants wanted the review stayed, pending the determination an application they intend to institute in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for the variation of a final preservation order the South African Revenue Service obtained against them on 1 March 2021.
The SIU and the NHLS opposed the stay application.
The Special Tribunal has dismissed, with costs, an application by #HamiltonNdlovu to stop SIU from taking further legal action against him. The SIU wants R172M PPE tender awarded to Ndlovu & others declared invalid and unlawful, and to recover financial losses suffered by State. pic.twitter.com/aWCeUF28Yn
— Special Investigating Unit (SIU) (@RSASIU) December 21, 2021
In the Special Tribunal’s judgment on Tuesday, Judge Lebogang Modiba found, among other things, that the applicants’ claim that the refusal of the stay would violate their constitutional right to access to the courts was “unsustainable”.
In addition, the applicants failed to establish that it was in the interests of justice for the review to be stayed, the tribunal found.
The SIU and the NHLS instituted the review application at the tribunal on 6 October 2021 against Ndlovu, Thabiso Ndlovu, Ndlovu Hamilton Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Hamilton Projects CC and Feliham (Pty) Ltd.
They are seeking an order from the Special Tribunal “declaring Ndlovu and his associates jointly and severally liable to pay back an amount of R172,7 million, as well as, an order declaring several properties and assets held under his name preserved under the Special Tribunal order to be proceeds of unlawful activities and forfeited to the state.”
Ndlovu shot to fame in May last year when he posted a video on his Facebook page, boasting about buying five ultra-luxurious cars, worth an estimated R11 million, in a single day.
The fleet of vehicles included a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Lamborghini Urus and three Porsches.
After posting the vehicles online, the SIU received tip-offs from members of the public who alleged that Ndlovu and his companies’ wealth was derived from contracts to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to the NHLS during the Covid-19 state of disaster.
The Hawks searched properties linked to Ndlovu and the NHLS offices and subsequently seized several documents which were handed to the SIU.
The SIU, in court papers before the Special Tribunal, said it had obtained evidence that provided grounds for the review and setting aside of Ndlovu’s procurement transactions, as they were allegedly unlawful and fraudulently obtained.
Procurement transactions between the NHLS and eight companies were all linked to Ndlovu, in terms of which a total amount of R172 742 175 was paid to the companies.