[miningmx.com] – ZONDWA Mandela will be the first of several directors
of Aurora Empowerment Systems to face criminal charges, said Johan Engelbrecht,
one of the Joint Provisional Liquidators (JLP) of the Pamodzi Group of companies.
Engelbrecht was speaking following a press announcement by the JLP, in which it said
that Mandela and his attorney, Ahmed Amod, would be issued with a summons for
defrauding the JSE’s Securities Regulation Panel (SRP).
Engelbrecht said the JLP had certain documents in its possession showing that
Mandela and Amod misrepresented themselves to the SRP in respect of a transaction
announced on the JSE’s news service, Sens, that Aurora would reverse Pamodzi’s gold
assets into Labat Africa in return for control of the company.
“Further summons will be issued later this week,’ said Engelbrecht, who added that
criminal charges would be extended to Khulubuse Zuma, nephew of President Jacob
Zuma, for his actions while a director of Aurora.
“He [Zuma] said he didn’t know what was happening at the company on a day-to-day
basis, but that’s not good enough,’ said Engelbrecht. “As a director of the company,
you ought to know.’
Mandela had not responded to telephonic inquiries by Miningmx at the time of
writing.
The transaction with Labat was announced in April 2010, and required Aurora to pay
R4.5m to Link Private Equity and Investments for its 45.7% stake in Labat Africa.
Presumably, Aurora was seeking access to the capital markets in order to raise
the finance – thought to be R50m – to recapitalise the Pamodzi gold assets.
In terms of the Labat transaction, Aurora would then have been required to purchase
minority shareholders’ shares in the company, making a total consideration of R9m.
Aurora even went so far as to appoint Mandela, Zuma, Thulani Ngubane (Aurora’s
Commercial Director) and Michael Hully, Jacob Zuma’s legal counsel to Labat’s board.
They later stepped down when Aurora lost its preferred bidder status for the Pamodzi
assets.
Engelbrecht said Mandela never had funds – allegedly held in a trust account –
available, and allegedly wrote out cheques that were stopped at the bank.
Engelbrecht said this would be reported to the JSE as well as the Law Society in
respect of Amod.
“These misrepresentations obviously contributed to the delay in allowing the Pamodzi
liquidators to have cancelled to deal with Aurora timeously,’ the JLP said in its
statement.
“Affidavits in support of the criminal complaint, together with the supporting
documents, will be handed to the South African Police Services this week,’ it said.
