Former Lottery govt loses court bid to accessibility his pension
Former Lottery govt loses court bid to accessibility his pension
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The Special Tribunal has dismissed an application by Marubini Ramatsekisa, previous National Lotteries Commission chief possibility officer, to obtain entry to his R1.7-million pension benefit.
The initial order blocking obtain was granted in December 2023.
The choose dismissed Ramatsekisa’s application to possess the order rescinded.
The Special Investigating Device has fingered Ramatsekisa for his position within a R4-million grant to a shelf company, Zibsicraft, for your examine to aid the development of your Khoisan language.
R2.2-million of the, the SIU says, went to acquire home for the Higher Grace Christ Redeemer Church, represented by previous NLC Board chair Alfred Nevhutanda, and his spouse.
Former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) Main hazard officer Marubini Ramatsekisa has failed in his bid to overturn an purchase because of the Special Tribunal blocking access to his pension money.
The Preliminary lottovip order was granted in December 2023 pursuing allegations that Ramatsekisa orchestrated a plan that resulted inside the NLC shedding about R4-million. He was suspended in September 2022 and subsequently resigned.
Ramatsekisa sought to rescind or vary this purchase, professing it absolutely was sought “erroneously” and granted in his absence.
But Special Tribunal member Judge David Makhoba has dismissed his application and confirmed the interdict granted in favour from the Particular Investigating Unit (SIU).
Study the judgment
Judge Makhoba also dominated that Ramatsekisa must pay The prices of the appliance.
In his modern judgment, he explained the SIU experienced received an buy preserving the pension benefit, about R1.7-million, held by Liberty Lifestyle adhering to an ex parte (without warning to the other facet) software.
The idea with the interdict was that he experienced prompted a loss of R4-million on the NLC.
It was alleged that Ramatsekisa geared up a proposal for “proactive funding” to conduct a examine to aid the development of your KhoiSan language.
The funding — R4 million — was awarded to a firm known as Zibsicraft.
The SIU alleges that Ramatsekisa lied about getting in touch with a stakeholder with the Office of Arts and Culture and he didn't make sure that Zibsicraft’s application for grant funding went throughout the standard processes. He did not make sure that the folks linked to that organisation had any hyperlinks into the KhoiSan Local community or had ever done any get the job done linked to the Group.
Judge Makhoba claimed the SIU experienced also alleged that Ramatsekisa had utilised the same strategy in awarding a R5.five-million grant for acquiring cricket within the Northern Cape.
These funding assignments weren't assessed, evaluated or adjudicated by a distributing agency, but by former NLC Chief Operations Officer Phillemon Letwaba and himself.
Letwaba signed the grant agreement on behalf of the NLC and Ramatsekisa signed as his witness.
Ramatesekisa submitted which the interdict should be reconsidered and put aside.
He reported there was no proof that he had colluded Using the NLC to siphon money from it. He experienced only carried out his administrative duties as well as SIU had not made out a scenario that he was an “active and keen facilitator”.
Judge Makhoba reported in these programs, the proof contained within the SIU software was “considered from scratch”. The examination was whether or not the SIU had created out a very good case to the interdict it received during the ex parte software.
He said there were “shortcomings” within the method during which Ramatesekisa had dealt with the funding from the Zibsicraft make a difference. Zibsicraft had no credible financial statements, normal procedures were not adopted, as well as so-identified as “Khoisan Local community website link” didn't exist.
“The evidence before me suggests that the grant cash were not employed for the intended reason and exhibits a prima facie circumstance that the applicant facilitated the unlawful grant awards. He did not gainsay the factual allegations made in opposition to him,” Choose Makhoba said.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago explained the First interdict were attained “quickly” following Ramatsekisa resigned and wrote to his pension fund administrator, providing observe that he intended to withdraw his pension reward.
Working with the allegations, he claimed before long following the proactive funding was permitted for that Khoisan task, 3 individuals obtained and have become directors of Zibsicraft non-profit organisation, a dormant, shelf enterprise. Ten times later on, the organization built an application with the funding.
“The appliance was accompanied by financial statements geared up for the intervals ending 28 February 2018 and 28 February 2019. However, the non-income organisation only opened a banking account on 19 March 2019, 6 days just before it utilized for funding,” Kganyago reported.
“The SIU discovered that in the R4-million, R2.2-million allegedly went toward paying for property to get a church named the Higher Grace Christ Redeemer Church. The previous NLC Board Chairperson, Alfred Nevhutanda, and his spouse, Mrs Tshilidzi Rachel Nevhutanda, represented the church from the present to acquire it.”
He claimed the SIU also intended to institute civil proceedings towards Ramatsekisa to Get better damages endured through the NLC as a result of his perform.