Khulubuse Zuma 'hard to find' as lawyers try to recover R1.4bn
Where is Khulubuse Zuma?
That’s the question lawyers acting for the liquidators of the Pamodzi mining group are asking in their continuing attempts to recover the more than R1.4bn that former president Jacob Zuma’s nephew personally owes to creditors.
A provisional liquidation order was granted against him in the Durban high court in January.
On the return date in early March there was no response from Zuma. Advocate Clayton Edy, for the liquidators, asked at the time that the matter be adjourned until Friday “because there are attempts to settle the matter”.
But when the matter was called before acting judge Cheryl Smart on Friday, Edy said the provisional order had been served on Zuma only via e-mail and there had been no response. “We believe he is continuously travelling abroad,” Edy said.
The judge said she wanted an affidavit detailing all attempts at service before she could consider finalising the order. The matter was adjourned until June.
A legal source said it is possible to get court approval for “substituted service” by way of e-mail or even Facebook, once it could be proved that all other, normal, attempts had failed. This is particularly so if a person has been out of the country for more than 21 days.
Pamodzi’s mines were placed in liquidation in 2009. Two, Orkney and Grootvlei, were “bought” by Aurora Empowerment Systems, of which Khulubuse Zuma was one of five directors. The company took control of the mines and “stripped” them of their assets and gold produce without paying anything for them.