VEE IN HOT SOUP

Vee had approached the court to halt the attachment and public auction of some of his assets pending the outcome of an appeal he had lodged against the loan shark. The judgment, issued in December 2023, had authorised several deputy sheriffs to attach Vee’s property, but the artist made an urgent application seeking to stop them on January 11th, 2024.

“Based on his grounds of appeal, Vee has submitted that he has reasonable prospects of succeeding at the Court of Appeal. He has further submitted that if stay is not granted, he will suffer irreparable prejudice in that properties attached would have been sold to third parties,” Judge Leburu said.

The judge observed that one of the properties was a Porsche vehicle registration B 911 BPZ that was transferred to his mother, Tiny Otsile Sento, on December 15th, the same day the court issued a judgment in favour of Goldwing (PTY) Ltd. Justice Leburu further noted that at some point, Vee made payments to Goldwing and promised to pay more and, therefore, he cannot claim to be appealing the judgment when he had already agreed to pay some of the money.

Justice Leburu said Vee and the second applicant, Tshegofatso Chiche, had failed to explain why they delayed the application for stay of execution and therefore it was a self-created urgency. Chiche claimed that the attached properties were leased to her.

“In the present case, the purported lease agreement is a sham or façade and was tendered to circumvent execution. It is also common cause that Vee, on the date of judgment, proceeded to the Department of Road Transport and Safety and changed ownership of his Porsche vehicle into his mother’s name. Without equivocation, this was meant to circumvent execution and thus defeat the ends of justice,” he said.

He described Vee’s conduct as deceptive and emphasised that the courts will not allow such behaviour.

“Considering the conduct of the applicants in attempting to defeat the ends of justice, this is a clear case that warrants costs against them on punitive scale, as I hereby proclaim. Consequently, the application is dismissed with costs on attorney and client scale,” Justice Leburu said.

It is also common cause that Vee, on the date of judgment, proceeded to the Department of Road Transport and Safety and changed ownership of his Porsche vehicle into his mother’s name. Without equivocation, this was meant to circumvent execution and thus defeat the ends of justice.