By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court has authorised the auction sale of five properties in Sandown owned by Shauwn Mkhize towards paying the R105m tax debt owed to SA Receiver of Revenue Services (SARS).
Mkhize, popularly known as MaMkhize, has business interests ranging across construction, sports management, media, and transport in South Africa.
The majority of her wealth was created by the Zikhulise Group, which was established as a construction business in the early 2000s.
After her divorce from Sbu Mpisane, Mkhize bought the football club and renamed it Royal AM Football Club.
Mkhize then bought the Premier Soccer League status of Bloemfontein Celtic, bringing Royal AM into the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
This business was coupled with Mkhize’s stints on reality television, with her Mzansi Magic reality series Kwa Mam’Mkhize displaying her lavish lifestyle.
However, throughout this journey, Mkhize has had run-ins with SARS, with the businesswoman being convicted of tax fraud in 2005.
This was related to false tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) declarations and became a key reference point for SARS when it began investigating her growing wealth and lavish lifestyle.
Between 2010 and 2014, SARS initiated a comprehensive lifestyle and corporate audit into Mkhize and her businesses.
Judge Jacqueline Henriques ruled that the properties in Sandown, Johannesburg, could be sold before a separate legal action determines whether SARS is entitled to execute against them. The proceeds must be held in a trust account until the dispute over entitlement is resolved.
“Paying tax is not a punishment; it is a responsibility,” Henriques said.
The judge dismissed objections by Mkhize and her son, Andile Mpisane, who argued, among other things, that the application was not urgent and that the sale would deprive them of their primary residence.
Henriques found that the properties were deteriorating and that the costs of maintaining them were undermining the purpose of the preservation order granted in November 2024.
Court papers show that SARS was paying R188,261.90 a month for private security at the properties, as well as R97,922.30 every six months for insurance.
The properties had not been insured when they were initially preserved, while outstanding municipal charges had reached R1.79 million.
The five properties are situated side by side in Sandown and function as a single compound. Their combined market value is R35 million, while their forced-sale value is R24.5 million.