A statement by the SIU today says they have obtained a preservation order from the Special Tribunal to freeze a luxury property owned by Vhutanda Investments, a private company whose sole director is Professor Alfred Ntshengedzeni Nevhutanda.

Vhutanda Investments allegedly purchased the property for approximately R27m in 2018 with money from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). At the time the property was bought, Professor Nevhutanda was the director of Vhutanda Investments and the Chairman of the Board of the NLC.

The SIU investigation has revealed that the acquisition of the property was funded by the Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) with money they had received, under the auspices of grant funding, from the NLC.

The SIU alleges that NPOs War_Rna NPO, Inqaba Yokulinda, Mushumo Ushava Zwanda, Simingaye Community Project NPO and Zibsilor NPO applied for grant funding at the NLC and were jointly funded to the tune of more than R100m.

Immediately after the funding was received, the NPOs transferred a significant sum of the grant funding to a legal firm for the purchase, transfer and registration of the Wonderboom property including the furniture. Nevhutanda was a member of the adjudication committee that approved grant funding for some of the NPOs.

The more than R100m in grant funding was intended for community empowerment projects like construction of athletics tracks in Mpumalanga and North West provinces, old age homes in North West and Limpopo provinces, and a rehabilitation centre in Soshanguve, Gauteng.

In terms of the Special Tribunal order which was granted on June 15, Professor 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 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 the NPOs mentioned and recover financial losses suffered by the state.

The SIU says it will also take civil action against Nevhutanda and Vhutanda Investments for the disgorgement of secret profits improperly earned during tenure of Nevhutanda as chairperson of the board of the NLC.

The unit says the latest preservation order granted is a continuation of the implementation of the SIU investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover assets and financial losses suffered by state institutions and to prevent further losses.