A popular online stokvel has been declared illegal and had its five bank accounts frozen.

The Wealth Hub was set up by former University of North West vice-chancellor and one-time business partner of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Dr Ngoato Takalo.

Takalo, her co-directors Dr Lizette Kleynhans and Stefan Minnaar have their five bank accounts, held at Absa and Standard Bank frozen. The undisclosed amounts in the accounts were declared proceeds of unlawful activities.

Takalo was part of the Lilitha Strategic Investments Consortium, which in 2009, concluded the sale of 10% of Ramaphosa's Shanduka Group.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) obtained preservation orders against The Wealth Hub's operations last month after suspicion arose that The Wealth Club was a ponzi scheme.

South Gauteng High Court judge Bashier Vally accepted the NPA's representations and granted it a preservation order on The Wealth Hub's bank accounts.

"If you have an interest in the property, you should understand that it is now at risk. You are advised to obtain legal advice on whether your interest can be protected and, if so, on how to protect it," reads the order handed down by Vally warning thousands of people who have joined The Wealth Hub.

When The Wealth Hub was suspended last month, it reportedly already had over 20000 members.

The Wealth Hub members have 14 days from last Friday to apply for their share of the money not to be forfeited into state coffers.

A member helps three people and gets helped by 39 to get R156000.

At each stage there are administration fees of between R100 and R2000. The last person to join also has to pay others ahead of him.

In May, the registrar of financial service providers, Jeffrey van Rooyen, expressed concern that The Wealth Hub gave an impression that it was registered with the Financial Services Board (FSB) as an authorised financial service provider. Van Rooyen said the scheme was not registered with the FSB and its business dealings fell outside the board's regulatory net.

The FSB reported The Wealth Hub to the Reserve Bank, which is authorised to investigate such matters and take appropriate action if wrongdoing is established.

According to the board, Takalo, Kleynhans and Minnaar were also not registered in any authorised financial service providers.

Yesterday, Takalo did not respond to Sowetan's request for comment and Minnaar, Kleynhans and Ngwenya could not be reached for comment.

sidimbal@sowetan.co.za