KWAITO legend and founder of 999 record label Arthur Mafokate’s effort to set aside the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) order to have his property preserved has failed.
This comes after the North Gauteng High Court dismissed his application to quash the SIU preservation order against his luxurious R6 million guesthouse in Midrand, Joburg.
In December 2022, the SIU announced it has acquired a preservation order to freeze three luxury properties, a plot and portion of a farm linked to the siphoning of funding meant for community development projects.
This follows its investigations into the multimillion corruption that happened at the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) by its employees and other organisation owners.
The SIU said its investigations revealed that five non-profit organisations (NPOs) received grant funding of about R56,3 million for the projects.
Among those NPOs was Development Association (SAADA), which belonged to Mafokate, which reportedly received R9,5 million in 2014.
The SIU said SAADA, under the directorship of Mafokate, applied for grant funding to assist unemployed youth in poor and rural areas of the country to impart skills in music, business, video, film production, dance, and the business of radio in South Africa.
But through their investigation, a portion of the money was allegedly used to pay for Mafokate’s house.
But the Mnike hitmaker denied this and said the funding he got was used for what he applied for. He then approached the courts to try reverse and have the order set aside.
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On Tuesday, 30 January, Justice Mandlenkosi Motha made an order that the application to reconsider, set aside and rescind the ex parte preservation order handed down on 21 December 2023 is dismissed.
Delivering his judgment, Motha said: "When all is said and done, the vexed question facing this court is if I were confronted with the facts submitted by both the respondent (Mafokate) and the applicant (SIU), would I have given the preservation order, as the court did in the ex parte application? Mindful of the standard of proof required to grant this order, my answer is yes.
"The respondent has not dealt with the money flow nor given an explanation about from where it had procured the money to purchase the property in question. It may well be that when the standard of proof is raised, the applicants will fail to prove their case. However, at this stage, I'm not persuaded that the preservation order should be interfered with," he said.
Mofokate was ordered to carry the costs of the proceedings. Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi, the Director of Public Prosecutions, welcomed the judgment as a testament to the NPA's commitment to combating corruption.
Mzinyathi said he was grateful for the investigation conducted by the SIU on this matter.
He said it illustrated the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies working together to eradicate "corruption".
"This judgment paves the way for the AFU to enroll the matter for the final forfeiture of the guest house and all the other luxury properties worth millions of rand purchased with alleged stolen NLC funds. Should the forfeiture application be successful, the guest house will be sold at a public auction and the proceeds returned to the NLC," he said.
Daily Sun contacted Mafokate but he hung up the phone before he could give his comment. He didn't respond to our texts as well.
