Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma’s nephew, Khulubuse Zuma, and late president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zondwa Mandela, will today know the outcome of their application for leave to appeal an earlier ruling that held them liable for mismanaging the mines they had taken over from Pamodzi Gold’s liquidators.
Yesterday, Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann reserved judgment on the matter and said he would give his verdict today.
Zuma and Mandela, together with Thulani Ngubane, applied for leave to appeal an earlier judgment that found them liable to pay about R1.7 billion for the mismanagement, and their subsequent liquidation, of Aurora’s Grootvlei and Orkney mines, which the three had taken over from Pamodzi Gold.
Should the judge dismiss the application, it would be a big victory and bring closure to the thousands of mineworkers who were left stranded when the mines were closed down and subsequently liquidated in 2011.
The liquidators of Pamodzi Gold brought a civil claim in terms of section 424 of the Companies Act, asking the court to hold the directors liable for all the damage caused to the mine.
Trade union Solidarity, one of the unions that has been fighting the directors, said it remained hopeful that the court would dismiss the application.
Unions weigh in
Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said the union wanted the court to sequestrate the three and order them to pay the damages to the workers.
“We believe that the Aurora directors have no grounds for appeal against the judgment,” Du Plessis said. “It is merely an attempt to delay the process given the prolonged struggle for justice by the 5 300 former Pamodzi employees.”
In June, Judge Bertelsmann said there was no doubt that the directors were guilty of wilful misrepresentation.
“Their complete disregard for the consequences of their failure to implement the original transaction is inexplicable, other than they could not care at all about the damage they had caused,” he said at the time.
“They should have, as should the liquidators, acted to limit further losses at the latest by terminating the agreements for their acquisition of the mines no later than March 2010 and placing the mines on auction if no other purchasers could be found.”
Last week, Judge Bertelsmann dismissed a similar application by father and son team and former Aurora Empowerment Systems directors Solly and Faizel Bana, which moved them a step closer to sequestration.
The National Union of Mineworkers also said yesterday that it was tired of waiting for payments that were legitimately due to its members.
BUSINESS REPORT