South African kwaito music legend, Arthur Mafokate, has lost his bid to prevent the seizure of one of his properties in Midrand, which he is alleged to have built using funds meant to go towards the elevation of poor youths in that country.
The guest house is one of three properties, which include a farm and a plot, which South Africa’s National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) froze after getting a preservation order which followed allegations that Mafokate, the sole director of 999 music, had misappropriated funds for a project meant to benefit disadvantaged young people in the rural areas.
After the ruling at the High Court in Pretoria, Lumka Mahanjana, Gauteng regional spokesperson for the NPA said the case “followed investigations conducted by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), which revealed that the South African Arts and Development Organisation (SAADA) was granted R9.3 million to assist unemployed youth in the poor and rural areas of the country, to impact skills in music, business video, film production, dance, and the overall business of radio.”
According to Mahanjana, SAADA, under the control of Mafokate, only used R1.8 million of those funds on the project and used the remaining funds, R7.5 million, to purchase a luxurious guest house known as La Villa Rosa in Midrand.
“In court, Mafokate argued that he was entitled to the R7.5 million as his businesses delivered the services as required by the NLC and that he had committed no offences.
“However, the NPA argued that although some kind of services were rendered, it was at most R1.8 million. The remainder of the funds were used to purchase the guest house, which was not the purpose of the grant allocation,” said Mahanjana.
The courts agreed with the NPA’s assertion that funds used to purchase the guest house were stolen from the NLC, as the money was not used for the allocated project.
“The court agreed with the NPA that it was against the terms and conditions of the grant for SAADA to carry over its obligations to any other organisation and that SAADA should have also returned any unused funds to the NLC,” said Mahanjana.
“The court also found that Arthur Mafokate could give no reasonable explanation on how he could afford to purchase the guest house if it were not for NLC funds, particularly as his business accounts contained negligible balances when the grant was received from the NLC.
“Therefore, the court dismissed, with costs, the application of Arthur Mafokate to have the guest house released from the preservation order,” she said. Telly Africa
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