OUTA lays criminal complaint against Ngubane

13 June 2017 - 20:15 By TimesLive
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Ben Ngubane. File photo
Ben Ngubane. File photo
Image: Supplied

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has laid a criminal complaint against Dr Ben Ngubane‚ who resigned as chairperson of Eskom on Monday.

The criminal complaint includes charges of alleged fraud‚ forgery‚ uttering and contravention of provisions of the Companies Act‚ and arises from Ngubane and his wife allegedly borrowing R50-million from a state-owned company and failing to repay it‚ the civil action organisation said on Tuesday.

OUTA said it had investigated Ngubane on a variety of matters arising from his tenure on the boards of Eskom and the SABC‚ and also followed up on a recent Carte Blanche investigation which exposed irregular activities within the mining sector.

“We have obtained evidence to substantiate our claims and are confident of the strength of our case against Ngubane‚” said Ted Blom‚ portfolio director for energy at OUTA.

He said in essence‚ Ngubane and his wife‚ Sheila Ngubane‚ are the sole shareholders and directors of Huntrex 305 (Pty) Ltd‚ which in turn owns the companies Zululand Quarries (Pty) Ltd‚ Natal Sands (Pty) Ltd and Hanis Investments (Pty) Ltd. Zululand Quarries and Natal Sands had certain mining rights‚ Blom added.

In order to finance the purchase of these companies‚ Huntrex obtained a loan of R50 million from Ithala Development Finance Corporation Ltd‚ a KwaZulu-Natal state-owned company the sole purpose of which was to finance the development of previously disadvantaged communities.

Blom said Huntrex defaulted on the loan repayments and was liquidated following an application by Ithala‚ its biggest creditor. In an attempt to obtain capital to pay some of the creditors‚ the liquidators brokered a deal to sell all three companies Huntrex owned to Sandton Plant Hire for R15-million.

The mining rights owned by Zululand Quarries and Natal Sands formed the cornerstone of this agreement with Sandton Plant Hire.

However‚ Ngubane produced share certificates indicating that he and his wife were the only shareholders in Zululand Quarries‚ Natal Sands and Hanis Investments and thus ultimately the owners of all mining rights those businesses owned. This meant that the liquidators could not sell the companies so the sale was cancelled‚” Blom said.

“Based on the investigation and evidence obtained by OUTA‚ it is clear that the share certificates produced by Dr Ngubane were fraudulent as there are several blatant mistakes made on them‚” Blom charged.

“We are confident in the evidence laid by OUTA before the authorities and we will keep a close eye on the investigation and prosecution process. We trust that the police and the NPA will take up this matter with the urgency and sincerity it deserves‚” he added.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now