The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained an interdict to stop the sale of a farm in Limpopo linked to former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) COO Phillemon Letwaba and his brother Johannes Letwaba.
The SIU alleges the farm, registered under the Mosokoti Business Trust whose trustees are the Letwaba brothers, was bought with funds siphoned from the NLC.
The farm was listed for R7m last year and is now under offer for R5m.
The SIU said in an order dated March 28 the Special Tribunal prohibited the Letwaba brothers and any other person with knowledge of the order from selling, disposing, leasing, transferring, donating or dealing with the farm in any manner.
“The funds used to purchase this farm emanate from the NLC. The farm is now preserved pending the final determination of a civil action to be brought by the SIU within 60 days,” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said.
The unit received a tip-off from a whistleblower about the sale of the farm.
The SIU investigation found the farm was purchased using NLC funds siphoned through two organisations which applied for grant funding in 2016.
After these organisations had received the funds, a series of transactions led to millions of rand being transferred to conveyancing attorneys to buy the farm.
“The SIU’s evidence shows Letwaba contravened the NLC’s conflict of interest clause. He also used the funds received from NLC-funded NPOs for his gain,” Kganyago said.
The interdict was part of implementing the SIU’s investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover money and assets lost by state institutions due to alleged corruption or negligence.
The SIU was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020 to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of the NLC.
TimesLIVE
SIU stops sale of Limpopo farm bought from 'illegally siphoned' NLC funds
Image: 123RF/Olivier Le Moal
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained an interdict to stop the sale of a farm in Limpopo linked to former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) COO Phillemon Letwaba and his brother Johannes Letwaba.
The SIU alleges the farm, registered under the Mosokoti Business Trust whose trustees are the Letwaba brothers, was bought with funds siphoned from the NLC.
The farm was listed for R7m last year and is now under offer for R5m.
The SIU said in an order dated March 28 the Special Tribunal prohibited the Letwaba brothers and any other person with knowledge of the order from selling, disposing, leasing, transferring, donating or dealing with the farm in any manner.
“The funds used to purchase this farm emanate from the NLC. The farm is now preserved pending the final determination of a civil action to be brought by the SIU within 60 days,” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said.
The unit received a tip-off from a whistleblower about the sale of the farm.
The SIU investigation found the farm was purchased using NLC funds siphoned through two organisations which applied for grant funding in 2016.
After these organisations had received the funds, a series of transactions led to millions of rand being transferred to conveyancing attorneys to buy the farm.
“The SIU’s evidence shows Letwaba contravened the NLC’s conflict of interest clause. He also used the funds received from NLC-funded NPOs for his gain,” Kganyago said.
The interdict was part of implementing the SIU’s investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover money and assets lost by state institutions due to alleged corruption or negligence.
The SIU was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020 to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of the NLC.
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