'HE made the rules, then he broke the rules" - this is what auctioneer Rael Levitt's right-hand man, Deon Leygonie, told a commission probing the shenanigans when a prime Cape wine estate went under the hammer in December.
Leygonie, 63, who described himself as a proxy bidder for Levitt, bid against billionaire Wendy Appelbaum for the 194ha Quoin Rock estate.
In a startling admission on Friday, he told the National Consumer Commission that Levitt asked him to bid for the estate just 10 minutes before the start of the auction, which had already been delayed 30 minutes.
He said that he was a contract employee at Auction Alliance and acted on instructions from Levitt, the company's former CEO.
The commission is investigating a complaint by Appelbaum into how the "flawed" auction was conducted amid claims of a "ghost bidder".
Leygonie said he had, over the past seven years, undertaken "contract" work as a proxy bidder for Auction Alliance for a fee of R1500.
"The ladies from the Auction Alliance office would call me when they wanted me to bid on behalf of the buyer [as a proxy bidder] or seller [as a vendor bidder]. Rael only got involved when there were big farms for sale and VIP stuff," he told the commission.
Talking about the day of the auction - which attracted some of the country's richest business people - Leygonie said: "Rael came to me and said I must bid on behalf of an offshore bidder up to R50-million."
Leygonie said he was the only proxy bidder for the auction house.
But commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala said a statement from Levitt claimed that he assumed Leygonie was there as a "vendor bidder".
Mohlala said: "Levitt says he assumed you were there as a vendor bidder, but you are telling this panel he wanted you to be there as a proxy bidder. That's a contradiction."
Leygonie said he learnt what a vendor bidder was only after the Quoin Rock auction and denied knowing what the term "ghost bidder" meant.
Levitt provided the commission with his statement after he was summonsed by the body.
The Sunday Times revealed in January how Leygonie - according to documents produced by Auction Alliance after the auction - bid on behalf of Israeli businessman Ariel Gerbi.
The bidding started with an offer of R30-million, and the price jumped to R60-million.
Appelbaum declined to offer R65-million, and Levitt then announced the R60-million bid was "a mistake". The estate was knocked down to Appelbaum for R55-million.
But, a week later and after Appelbaum demanded details of the other bidders, the liquidators declined to confirm the sale.
Levitt told the Sunday Times previously that Leygonie had erred when he bid R60-million and retracted it.
Leygonie told the commission that Appelbaum "ran all the way with me until R50-million. When he [Levitt] came with R60-million, I froze. It was not in my mandate to go past R50-million."
Mohlala quoted Levitt as saying in his statement that he and Gerbi had agreed that the latter would be registered as a bidder after the fact.
Referring to Levitt's statement, Mohlala said: "Then they would cap off R50-million and create the impression that you [Leygonie] were there to bid as a proxy for Gerbi."
Leygonie said he did not know Gerbi and told the commission the first time he heard of the Israeli was when he was contacted by the Sunday Times.
Leygonie declined to speak to the Sunday Times following his evidence.
The commission will now deliberate on whether to call more witnesses and will then make a decision whether to refer the case for criminal prosecution.
Neither Levitt, who has stood down as CEO, nor Gerbi could be reached for comment.