ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema is the sole trustee of a secret family trust, registered in the name of his five-year-old son, which he allegedly uses to finance his lavish lifestyle, City Press reported on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, the Ratanang Family Trust was registered at the Office of the Master of the High Court in Pretoria in 2008, just weeks after Malema was first elected president of the youth league.
Citing two “independent, well-placed sources with knowledge of Malema’s financial dealings”, City Press says the trust is being used “by the youth leader and his benefactors” to fund his lifestyle.
“Thousands of rands” are deposited into the account on a regular basis, says the report, quoting the sources.
“Frequent deposits are being made from different banks, especially in Limpopo.”
City Press said Malema had denied that the trust was being used to launder illicit funds, but “declined to divulge its purpose or bank balance”.
On Saturday, Malema sought an urgent court interdict to stop City Press publishing a report on the trust, but this was dismissed by Judge Colin Lamont in the Johannesburg High Court. Lamont ruled that Malema was a public figure and that publishing the story was in the public interest.
Further, he had found the evidence contained in the City Press story to be “credible”.
Malema's legal team reportedly argued that his public image could be seriously damaged if details of the trust fund were published.
The City Press had opposed the application.
Earlier this week, Malema said that it was “nobody's business” where he got his money from.
He called the media briefing at the time to respond to a Sunday Independent report last weekend that he was building himself a R16 million house in Johannesburg's posh Sandown suburb.
Opposition political parties have called on the SA Revenue Services to investigate his wealth, claiming it is not compatible with his reported R25,000 a month salary.
The youth league's spokesman Floyd Shivambu was not immediately available to comment. - Sapa