Goldrich chief fumes over Blyvoor ruling

An emotional Thulani Ngubane demanded on Friday that liquidators repay his firm Goldrich the R18-million he claims was paid towards the purchase price of Blyvooruitzicht mine after the South Gauteng High Court ruled on Monday that the sale of the mine to Goldrich had lapsed.

"If the liquidator is right in saying the contract has lapsed, then bring back our money. They can't have our money and the mine. If they dislike everything about Goldrich, they also must not like our money," Ngubane said.

Goldrich is run by Ngubane and Fazel Bhana, who were involved in Aurora Empowerment Systems, the politically connected company that ran Pamodzi's Grootvlei and Orkney mines into the ground, leaving thousands of workers destitute.

The purchase of Blyvooruitzicht also left a trail of destruction with 40 people killed and the mine damaged, possibly beyond repair.

Ngubane said he was shocked to hear members of the National Union of Mineworkers say that "they will sleep easy" now that the deal with Goldrich had lapsed.

"We were there to try and preserve jobs and get the mine running again. It is the liquidators who are the poachers - they just want to sell off the assets and make some money."

Liquidators of Blyvoor, who said Goldrich had paid just more than R11-million to date, were now assessing damage to mine assets after the departure of Goldrich Holdings, under which the mine's last active shaft was flooded.

The South Gauteng High Court ruled on Monday that a sales agreement with Goldrich had lapsed in January after the company failed to make a R6-million payment on time.

Since the court's decision, Goldrich has been placed under business rescue, further complicating the liquidation process.

Mahier Tayob, business-rescue practitioner in control of Goldrich, said on Friday that a notice of appeal against the ruling was likely to be submitted to the court on Monday, which would further delay any potential asset sales at Blyvoor.

Tayob said that he was working closely with the liquidators, and awaiting guarantees from interested bidders who wanted to buy the mine for R50-million.

Goldrich signed a deal in December to buy the mine for R70-million, payable in instalments.

Since then, Five Shaft was flooded, working assets removed and scrap metal sold, according to liquidators and other sources at Blyvoor.

Substantial damage may also have been done to the processing plant, Blyvoor's most lucrative asset, which has been targeted by illegal miners leading to the deaths of as many as 40 people since December.

The liquidators obtained a court interdict against Goldrich in February, preventing any further asset sales or activity at Blyvoor.

Tayob said assets had deteriorated as the mine stagnated. While refusing to comment on grounds for a possible appeal, Tayob said there were disputes of fact, and he had a "fiduciary duty to protect Goldrich creditors, which are likely to include the Blyvoor liquidators".

Ngubane, Bhana and Bongani Mthethwa, who was Goldrich's sole director, are facing separate legal actions over a R2-million deposit they received from Ramharakh Mining for Goldrich shares. Court documents indicate that Goldrich failed to meet the conditions precedent, which included providing proof to Ramharakh that R11.4-million had been paid to liquidators.

The deposit for shares was accepted a week before Goldrich applied for business rescue.

Ngubane declined to comment, saying the matter was sub judice.

Tayob has also flagged various Goldrich transactions to the South African Revenue Service.

Goldrich has no VAT number, and Tayob "found lots of cash paid via different accounts to liquidators on behalf of Goldrich".