The Special Tribunal has dismissed an application by beneficiaries of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) to reconsider a preservation order granted to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) against them.

The beneficiaries also failed in their bid to have the SIU’s application to have the grant funding reviewed and set aside.

The beneficiaries – through non-profit organisation Inqaba Yokulinda – allegedly pocketed at least R15 million out of at least R19 million in NLC funding which was earmarked for the construction of athletics tracks in two provinces.

Some R2.5 million of that money is alleged to have been paid into the account of a law firm for the purchase of a R27 million luxury home owned by former NLC board chairperson Alfred Ntshengedzeni Nevhutanda while the rest of the money allegedly bought luxury vehicles, paid off loan debts and paid for a R58 000 spa day, among other things.

The SIU had obtained the preservation order against the beneficiaries in February last year and preserved two Mercedes Benz AMG vehicles, an Audi A3, a Honda Jazz and residential home in Zwartkop.

Some of those linked to the scandal include:

Inqaba Yokulinda CEO Buyisiwe Khoza

CEO of IT company Unicus, Jabulani Sibanda

Acting Athletics South Africa (ASA) CEO Tshifhiwa Terrence Magogodela

Former NLC board chairperson Alfred Ntshengedzeni Nevhutanda

In the application for reconsideration of the preservation order, Judge Soma Naidoo said the applicants have not presented any facts which may prompt the tribunal to reconsider the preservation order.

“In my view, the SIU had established a prima facie case for the grant of the preservation order. Additionally, there are no facts that have been presented in the reconsideration application, which, if placed before the Tribunal on 14 February 2022, would have caused it to refuse the application for an interdict/ preservation order,” Naidoo said.

Source: South African Government News Agency