[miningmx.com] — THE liquidators of Aurora Empowerment Systems have
revealed that the company only has R2,000 left in 10 bank accounts, leaving workers
with no hope of ever being paid.
Media24 Investigations has established that the SA Revenue Service (SARS)
has now launched a full-scale forensic audit into suspected dodgy gold deals.
Mine workers at Aurora’s former troubled Orkney and Grootvlei mines, who have not
been paid for almost three years, started receiving emergency food aid last week.
The SARS audit comes as Aurora’s financial statements show that between September
2009 and May 2010, the company sold R130m of gold to Rand Refinery.
In the same period, however, Aurora paid out R260m to itself and creditors from its
10 accounts, raising suspicion that the company sold far more gold than it officially
declared.
Aurora liquidator Gert de Wet of KaapVaal Trust told City Press that he
couldn’t find any labour contracts between the company and its workers. There was no
payroll either.
Aurora took over the running of the two mines towards the end of 2009 when the
owner, Pamodzi Gold, went into liquidation. At the time, the mines were fully
operational.
Aurora itself was liquidated in October last year. The company used an affiliate,
Kaunda Global Mining Resources, to run the mines.
De Wet says there is also no evidence that the company ever paid a percentage of
the workers’ wages to the Workman’s Compensation Fund (UIF). He can also not find
any evidence that Aurora paid VAT on its transactions.
This has opened up the company and its directors – among them President Jacob
Zuma’s nephew, Khulubuse Zuma, and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zondwa Mandela –
to charges of fraud and corruption.
“Aurora was bankrupt from the start,’ said De Wet. “It is almost a Ponzi scheme.’
He says the liquidators would “try their best’, but it did not seem there was any
money left to pay the workers.
Pamodzi liquidator Johan Engelbrect told City Press he would take legal
action against Aurora directors this week to compel them to repay the millions of
rands of damage caused to the mines.
De Wet confirmed allegations from workers that Aurora management concealed gold
and that not all transactions were properly reflected.
Engelbrecht agreed that the running of Aurora boiled down to virtually a “Ponzi
scheme’, and mentioned prima facie evidence of fraud and theft committed by its
directors.
Workers at the Orkney mine say last month alone electrical cabling worth more than
R3m was removed.
In October 2009, Aurora took control of Pamodzi Gold’s two mines and seven mine
shafts. It promised a R600m investment in the tired mine, as well as job security for
the mine workers and educational bursaries for their children.
Six months later, it stopped paying its workers. Several shafts are nothing more than
stripped skeletons.
Aurora has been accused of destroying 5,300 jobs, impoverishing 42,000 people and
polluting wetlands.
Aurora is currently involved in an insolvency hearing in the Pretoria High Court. One of
the issues to be decided is liability for selling the mine’s assets.
If Aurora is found to be liable, it will possibly face civil and criminal charges. The
company owes workers about R20m in salaries. Each worker is owed about R180,000,
on average.
Gideon du Plessis, trade union Solidarity’s Deputy General Secretary, said it was “very
unlikely’ that workers would get their outstanding salaries and compensation for the
pain and suffering they had endured.
“We would like to see the perpetrators end up in jail,’ he said.
A raft of court orders instructing Aurora and Zuma to make payments of millions to
various parties – including workers – have been ignored.
Cosatu North West secretary Solly Phetoe said their political connections made them
“untouchable’.
“These directors will not be held accountable because they are related to Nelson
Mandela and Jacob Zuma,’ he said.
Aurora Commercial Director Thulani Ngubane did not respond to requests for
comment.
– City Press
