MALALANE: Zietta Janse van Rensburg was arrested in Malalane by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) today (April 13).

Both arrests were confirmed by Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi.

In a voice note to Lowvelder, Johan Janse van Rensburg confirmed that the Hawks ‘semi-arrested’ him and that he was in the car with them on his way to Mbombela. Johan is the sole proprietor of Van Rensburg Attorneys, the firm where Zietta was employed during several of the controversial transactions linked to cases investigated against her.  

Read more: The Onderberg’s Zietta van Rensburg implicated in ‘serious misconduct’

Since 2021, at least seven criminal cases have been brought against Zietta, all relating to work she carried out while practising as an attorney in Malalane.   

Numerous clients lodged complaints with the Legal Practice Council (LPC), after which she was suspended and subsequently found guilty of misconduct in disciplinary proceedings.

The Mpumalanga High Court was scheduled to hear the LPC’s application to have her struck from the roll in January 2026, but the matter wasn’t placed on the roll.   

LPC spokesperson Kabelo Letebele confirmed to Lowvelder on Friday, April 10, that the LPC intends to proceed with the matter, but was unable to provide a timeline, as it’s determined by the court’s directive on the completion of Form B.  

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The matter was previously removed from the court roll due to non-compliance with directives relating to the filing of Form B. While the LPC submitted the form, Zietta did not.   

The LPC has since decided to appoint counsel in the matter due to its complexity and what it described as delays on the part of Zietta.  

According to a press statement from the Hawks, today’s arrest is in connection with fraud linked to R14m under the pretext of facilitating the sale of a business site in Nelspruit.

Read more: Six weeks of no access to bank accounts: Malalane attorney’s clients receive no help from bank

It is stated that: “Investigations further revealed that the funds were deposited into the bank account of the male suspect, her father-in-law, in what is believed to have been an attempt to conceal the proceeds of the alleged crime.

“A lengthy and detailed investigation was conducted, during which investigators followed the financial trail, ultimately leading to the arrest of the two suspects.

“It has also been established that the female suspect was previously arrested in connection with similar, unrelated cases.

“It was a complex and challenging case, which contributed to the duration of the investigation. However, we were committed to ensuring a thorough process to build a watertight case that will support successful prosecution,” said the provincial head of the Hawks in Mpumalanga, Major General Nico Gerber.

Businessman left out of pocket  

Lowvelder reported on the property deal in April 2024. In this bizarre case in the Zietta saga, a businessman paid R14.4m for a property on which he intended to build a new store, only to be left out of pocket and without any legitimate proof of ownership.   

The story was published after the businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, instructed his Johannesburg-based legal team to provide details of the transaction to the newspaper.   

His ordeal began at the end of 2017, when he appointed Van Rensburg Attorneys to locate a suitable property in the Nelspruit area for a new development. He claims Zietta, who worked for the legal firm, contacted him in March 2018 and informed him that she had found the perfect stand, allegedly owned by Seramix (Pty) Ltd.   

Property purchase payment plan   

The purchase price was set at R13m. Payment arrangements dictated that a deposit of R8m be paid into Van Rensburg Attorneys’ trust account. Of this amount, R500 000 was to be paid to the purported seller, Daniël van der Merwe of Seramix.  

Guarantees totalling R7.5m were required, payable to Seramix upon registration of the property, which was reportedly to be handled by Van Rensburg Attorneys. 

According to the businessman’s attorney, Zietta requested that, in addition to the R13m purchase price, transfer costs of R1 405 761 also be paid into the firm’s trust account.   

Soon after, the businessman was assured that the deal had been concluded and that the transfer process had commenced. On September 23, 2019, he was informed that registration was complete.   

Title deed hunt  

For nearly 11 months thereafter, repeated requests to Zietta for the title deed allegedly went unanswered.  

Frustrated, the businessman appointed a Nelspruit-based firm in September 2020 to investigate the status of the transaction. 

A month later, Zietta produced a title deed that ostensibly confirmed the property, identified by its erf description, had been registered in the businessman’s name.   

But something didn’t add up.   

The Nelspruit attorney probed further and discovered that the property was still legally registered in the name of a close corporation, and that transfer never took place. Even more concerning, documentation showed that a legal firm, Suliman & Maistry, had allegedly facilitated the transfer, with funds paid into what was believed to be their trust account.   

However, further investigation revealed the supposed owner of the title deed was an entirely unrelated entity, unknown to the buyer. 

Compounding this, the sale agreement was purportedly signed by Van der Merwe, identified as the director of Seramix, on March 27, 2018. This would have been impossible, as he had died on December 11, 2017, several months before the agreement was concluded.   

It also emerged that Seramix was in the process of deregistration, a fact allegedly never disclosed to the businessman.   

Also read: LPC finds Onderberg attorney guilty, court to be approached to strike Zietta off the roll

Where did the money go?   

With suspicion mounting, the Mbombela High Court issued further subpoenas in July 2023 to the banks involved.   

Bank statements revealed that the R500 000 allegedly sent to Van der Merwe’s account did not appear anywhere. Furthermore, the funds paid into what was supposed to be the Suliman & Maistry trust account were instead transferred to an unknown individual. The account in question was not a trust account and, in some instances, did not exist when the payments were allegedly made.   

Who is Suliman & Maistry?   

The businessman’s Johannesburg legal representatives pursued further clarification.   

In November 2023, they met with Imraan Suliman and Rochelle Maistry, the individuals purported to be behind the law firm Suliman & Maistry.    

The meeting revealed that Suliman & Maistry was actually a small Germiston-based firm, not located in Pretoria as previously indicated. Moreover, they were no longer practising at the time of the alleged transaction and had never done conveyancing work but rather focused on legal aid and criminal defence.   

The documentation presented to the businessman by Zietta, which included email addresses, physical addresses, telephone numbers and letterheads, was allegedly completely falsified.   

Suliman and Maistry were adamant that they had never received any instructions from Van Rensburg Attorneys, were unaware of any such transaction, and only learnt of it after receiving a summons from the Johannesburg attorneys.   

They emphatically denied receiving any funds or transferring money to the purported seller, Seramix. In fact, they claimed to have no knowledge of the transaction whatsoever.   

During the course of the saga, Zietta on more than one occasion stated that she was merely an employee of Van Rensburg Attorneys and claimed that she did not benefit financially from the deal. She further claimed that she did not have access to the firm’s banking systems and historical records.   

As proprietor of the firm, Johan was the custodian of the financial records. In an earlier report, he declined to provide detailed comments on the matters and said they are under investigation and before the courts.  

It is unclear when they will appear in court. Zietta’s attorney, Marco Lamberti, confirmed that he was flying in to assist his client.  

The Hawks confirmed: “The pair are expected to appear before the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court once all administrative processes have been finalised.”

Ongoing court delays in fraud case  

The long-running fraud case involving Zietta experienced repeated delays. It faced another setback on January 22, when proceedings at the Tonga District Court were postponed due to the presiding magistrate’s illness. She stands accused of fraud, uttering and forgery. Zietta was prepared to have her day in court, but Magistrate Jacob Mamabolo’s unexpected illness brought proceedings to a halt.

The trial date was set for April 20–22  in Malalane Periodical Court, and she will be represented by attorney Marco Lamberti.  

Good read: ‘Ek is nie dood nie!’ Zietta se ma moeg vir liegstories