Government land worth R53m frozen after illegal transfers

The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and Special Investigating Unit (SIU) have been granted an order by the North Gauteng High Court to freeze land that was illegally transferred to private entities and individuals.

The land is worth around R53 million.

Land worth R144 million seized

The land consists of an agricultural holding and a farm in Gauteng.

A similar preservation order was previously granted by the high court on 9 September 2022, with a value of approximately R144 million.

This takes the total value of frozen assets to R197 million.

NPA Gauteng spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the court order prevents the implicated individuals and entities from dealing with the properties in question – Holding 34 Beverley Agricultural Holdings and Portion 296 of the Farm Zuurfontein 33.

The implicated individuals and private entities are:

• B and B Media
• Nicolas Martinaas Roets
• Christopher Peterson
• RCI Development
• Segwapa Inc

Fraud and corruption

This comes after an investigation by the SIU into the defrauding of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development as well as the deeds registries in Vryburg, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

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Mahanja said the SIU shared the evidence with the AFU, which approached the high court for a preservation order.

“The evidence gathered points to acts of fraud and corruption committed between January 2008 and February 2022,” said Mahanja.

“As part of the investigation, numerous affidavits were obtained by the SIU from internal Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and deeds registry staff members, external witnesses and/or transferring attorneys.”

A criminal case has been registered with the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks). 

“This preservation order is part of the implementation of the national anti-corruption strategy by law enforcement agencies to strengthen its fight against corruption,” said Mahanja.

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