Hamilton Ndlovu: Flaunting cars, the taxman & an investigation

Gauteng businessman Hamilton Ndlovu's flashy stance appears to have caught up with him after revenue service Sars reportedly froze his bank accounts and seized three of his luxury cars. 

Ndlovu made headlines in May after he posted a video boasting about buying a fleet of luxury vehicles worth more than R11m. The vehicles included three Porsches, a Jeep and a Lamborghini Urus SUV.

After the video went viral and was criticised, the businessman and CEO of Hamilton Holdings, an engineering solutions company, issued an apology. Ndlovu at the time confirmed to TimesLIVE that the statement was authentic and that he was sincere.

“After much introspection and taking counsel from my family and community elders, I realised that the video was in poor taste and appeared at a very unfortunate time for our country as we are battling an invisible enemy in Covid-19, which has once more exposed huge challenges faced by my community and many other townships in our country,” Ndlovu said.

“I accept the video has caused much anger and anxiety within the family in the past few days, and to a greater extent has rendered the family vulnerable to unnecessary attention.”

On Tuesday, Daily Maverick reported that Sars was looking into how Ndlovu accumulated his wealth and was also interested in knowing if the businessman was up to date on his tax payments.

The report said Sars conducted a search and seizure operation at Hamilton’s residence on September 11, after the North Gauteng High Court issued the provisional preservation order.

Ndlovu's three Porsches — a 911 Carrera Cabrio, a Cayenne S Coupe and a Panamera GTS Sport — have reportedly been seized. Sars has also frozen more than R6m in the companies’ bank accounts.

City Press reported that the Hawks started investigating Ndlovu after he posted the video of his cars on social media.

The publication said the crime unit was also investigating allegations that Ndlovu benefited from an Eastern Cape PPE contract.

However, Sunday Times reported that following suspicions that Ndlovu benefited from the deal, embattled Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku requested a list of companies that were awarded contracts. Ndlovu's companies were not on the list.

On social media, many users weighed in on the situation. Here is a snapshot of what they had to say.

TimesLIVE