There has been no development in holding responsible those implicated in the payment of R116m for a piece of land worth only R8m in Tubatse, Limpopo. In 2014, the Limpopo Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements, and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) acquired the Mooifontein farm through the Housing Development Agency (HDA) for building houses.

SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTIONS 

CoGHSTA paid R116.5 million for the Mooifontein farm valued at R8.14 million, effectively overpaying by R108 million for the land. The payment was made to the seller's attorneys on October 23, 2015, and during the 2015/2016 financial year, an audit by the Auditor General of South Africa (AG) uncovered the suspicious transactions concerning Mooifontein property and informed the department. The AG commissioned an independent valuer to assess the property and found that it's valued at R8 million, resulting in a discrepancy of over R108.3 million compared to what CoGHSTA paid for the land.

MONEY EXCHANGED HANDS 

Six years ago, the auditor-general enlisted the help of a law firm, Bowmans Gilfillan Inc. to assist with an investigation into procurement irregularities involving the purchase of the Mooifontein property. The report by the law firm fingered former ANC Tshwane regional chairperson and advisor in Panyaza Lesufi's office, Kgoši Maepa, as one of those who benefitted from the land scam and that he was the negotiator in the purchase. "The seller engaged an intermediary, Maepa, to negotiate the sale of the Mooifontein Property on its behalf. Maepa was introduced to the seller by Jotham Maphundi, an individual who has a 22% shareholding in Cranbrook, the 90% shareholder of the company that sold the Mooifontein Property to the Tubatse Municipality. Maepa received 5% of the purchase price for his involvement in the transaction, and Maphundi received 22% of the profits, which equated to approximately R14 000 000. 

The seller likened Maepa's role to that of an estate agent, which contradicts another statement that the HDA advertised an RFQ for private land owners to sell land available for human settlements,' the report read. 

NO ACCOUNTABILITY

The report also found that Maepa might have contravened the Estate Agency Affairs Act 112 of 1976 (the EAA) if he indeed received commission payment without having been issued with the requisite fidelity fund certificate. Previously, the National Treasury told Sunday World that they had opened a criminal case against those who were fingered in the corruption in 2018 and that the report was shared with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and the Asset Forfeiture Unit for further criminal investigations. When ZiMoja did a follow-up on the progress of the case, National Treasury promised to respond by Friday but has not done so by the time of publication. When called for a comment, Maepa said: "Listen, monna (man), I was never implicated anywhere." Maphundi could not be reached for comment.