Providers of goods and services beware
March 2, 2023
Seers and Visionaries
March 2, 2023
Tightening the noose on corrupters
Raymond Joseph investigates the crime of how Lottery money was used to fund mansions for highflyers. Success stories from South Africa’s Prevention of Organised Crime Act do exist. Here, five luxury properties connected to misappropriated Lottery grants have been frozen by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
WORDS: RAYMOND JOSEPH
PUBLISHED ORIGINALLY ON WWW.GROUNDUP.CO.ZA
A luxurious mountainside mansion with sweeping views of Simon’s Town and False Bay, owned by a trust controlled by dodgy Pretoria lawyer Lesley Ramulifho, was described as “five-star” when it was put up for auction a few years ago. [Lesley Ramulifho paid for fancy restaurants, high-end interior decor and work on a Porsche using money meant for a drug rehab]. In rural Rustenburg in North West province, a magnificent boutique hotel on a property owned by a company belonging to former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board member William Huma, lies in the picturesque foothills of the Kgaswane Nature Reserve Mountains. And in Midrand, Gauteng, a luxury guest house with conference facilities set in a large garden with “a country feel” is owned by a company belonging to Kwaito star and music producer Arthur Mafokate. The three properties, in different parts of South Africa, all have one thing in common: they were all bought using money from Lottery grants allocated to non-profit companies meant for good causes … continued in the February – March edition of The Big Issue.
