Court row over ‘shady’ bus purchase deal

A DURBAN entrepreneur has sought urgent court intervention out of fear for his life after a business transaction went awry and he was the target of a disgruntled customer who took to social media to vent his anger.

Johnny Marokane, allegedly aggrieved over the purchase of a bus, posted pictures of Shaariq Ansari, his collection of cars, including a Mclaren, and umhlanga residence on Twitter.

Marokane accused Ansari of misappropriating his funds.

Represented by Durban attorney Bilal Malani, Ansari was granted an interim court order in the Pretoria High Court on June 25.

Marokane was ordered to remove all defamatory social media posts, not make further defamatory statements, and stop intimidating, harassing or inciting violence against Ansari.

It was revealed in a high court application that Marokane never concluded any deal with Ansari but rather it was Ansari’s previous employer who settled the matter with Marokane in July 2016.

It all began in 2015, when Marokane attempted to purchase a bus from 365 Signals, a company where Ansari was employed as an operations manager.

An agreement of sale was entered into for the bus to be purchased for R1.5 million but a deposit of R740000 was required, with the balance to be paid in accordance with the agreement.

In his founding affidavit, Ansari stated that three years down the line after the delivery of the bus, Marokane contacted him demanding his deposit back.

“Claims Marokane made should have been directed to Signals. I was accused of misrepresentation and he said I sold him a suspected stolen bus.”

But Marokane, 20-years-old at the time, said he never owned the bus and that it was parked in a Joburg lot.

Marokane said while waiting for the contract to be drafted he discovered that the bus was allegedly stolen and not registered with the company.

“I asked to cancel the deal and get my deposit refunded. But that was when the disagreements began and f-words and k-words were used and threats were made against me and my family,” he said.

Ansari has approached the police to investigate the several death threats he has received.

Marokane denied the allegations and argued “factually correct” social media posts were not defamatory.

“I am the one who lost my home, car, I am blacklisted and drowning in debt. Now I sell jerseys to make money, I am the victim. I can’t even afford to send my child to school who should have started grade R,” said Marokane.

He said legally contesting the order was not possible as he had neither the funds nor the resources.

“I was offered a settlement of just over R100 000 but that is a slap in the face. Since 2015, I am sitting with over R1 million in debt. If I get my deposit back, I will walk. I just want this put behind me.”