P 15 MILLION SCANDAL
Former Council Chairperson in trouble as council loses millions to company linked to him
Former Kweneng council boss implicated in loss
Some councillors have openly defended former Kweneng District Council chairman Jeffery Sibisibi who is implicated in a possible corruption case. They say Sibisibi should not be crucified for fending for himself and his family, if anything, other councillors should follow suit, wake up and start working towards providing for their families.
Sibisibi is being accused of using his position and status to benefit a company closely linked to him in a P15 million investment at Letlhakeng Sub District Council.
During a full council meeting in Molepolole last week, councillors listened in shock as council finance committee chairperson Mathata Selaledi narrated that on 17th December 2019, Letlhakeng invested millions in a company called BluThorn Fund Managers.
However, the company has now been placed under provisional liquidation by the Non-Bank Financial Institution Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA).
A letter dated 8 September 2020 from NBFIRA, a copy of which this publication has, says the application for BluThorn provisional liquidation is currently before the High Court.
Reacting to the matter, Councillor Dux Mafoko of Mogoditshane-Thamaga sub council did not beat about the bush but told other councillors that they should stop dragging Sibisibi’s name ín the mud.
“If you cannot fend for your sons and daughters, Sibisibi on the other hand o busy o direla bana ba gagwe, a re sekeng ra nna jealous, a re sekeng ra nna bohula mo go Sibisibi,” Mafoko said.
His remarks were met by murmurings in the house with other councillors suggesting that he was way out of line. Nonetheless he continued that instead of bashing Sibisibi, they should be focusing on ensuring that they recover their money from Blu Thorn Fund Managers.
Meanwhile Blu Thorn was supposed to pay back both the principal amount they were given together with the accumulated interest of over P300 000 by March 2020.
That has not happened despite repeated communication between the sub council and the directors of the company.
As it stands, the council is not certain if the invested money will ever be recovered or not.
What added to their worries was that Sibisibi is directly implicated in the matter.
Records from Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) suggest that there are more than three registered companies that bear a name very similar to that of BluThorn Fund Managers.
The said companies all carry the ‘Thorn” footprint. Additionally, in all of the said companies, the Sibisibi name has its fingerprints all over the company records as either company shareholders or directors.
CIPA records show that BluThorn Fund Managers Company has a large chunk of its 60 percent belonging to another company (Bluthorn Holdings Proprietary Limited) which Jeffery Sibisibi has been director since September 2015, until 28 February 2020.
Further probing on the company details revealed that another Sibisibi, suspected to be the daughter to Jeffery, has shares in the same company in which Jeffery was director.
According to CIPA, the daughter owns 300 shares while the remaining 700 belong to another company called B Thorn Proprietary Limited.
The Midweek Sun has established through CIPA that B Thorn Company is owned by one Eune Engelbrecht of South African origin. He has 60 percent of the company shares while Sibisibi owns 40 percent of its shares.
When reached last week, Jeffery Sibisibi declined to comment on the matter and referred us to the accounting officer at Letlhakeng Sub Council, Joseph Segopa.
However this week Segopa who had also excused himself from commenting last week, referred us to Council Secretary Goleba Kgari.
When addressing members of the council last week Kgari had nonetheless said they are taking a decision to report the matter to the DCEC.
He noted that the council priorities are to recover their millions from Blu Thorn Fund Managers. He advised everybody to approach the matter calmly until a solution is found.
COUNCILLORS PANICKING
It was revealed during the meeting that Letlhakeng Sub Council has been doing business with Blu Thorn Fund Managers since 2018. The company had in the past been trading as Ecsponet Asset Management.
In total, the sub council has made at least ten investment transactions with the company valued between 10 million and P20 million. Just before the outstanding investment, the council had invested 20 million at an interest rate of 8.25% for 91 days in August.
The investment earned council over P400 000 in profit at maturity. When this was announced by Selaledi, councillors asked that an investigation be carried out to determine if all monies invested in the past had indeed been returned to the sub council or not.
They fear that a deeper financial rot might be lying undetected hence the need to involve legal brains on the matter. They also called on Segopa as the accounting officer to provide answers, saying he had an obligation to cross check and dig all information before deciding to invest with Blu Thorn Fund Managers.
BLU THORN FUND MANAGERS SHAREHOLDERS
With 60 percent of the company shares belonging to another company named Bluthorn Holdings Proprietary Limited which has the Sibisibis as shareholders and former directors, this publication was unable to get hold of four other Blu Thorn fund managers’ shareholders. According to information retrieved from CIPA, each owns a 10 percent of the company shares totalling to 40 percent.
MOTLHOPHI LEO RESPONDS
Leo took over from Jeffery Sibisibi back in December. When speaking to this publication at the end of the council meeting, he noted that they will be engaging the services of DCEC this week.
His main concern is that Letlhakeng Sub council will be hit hard by the missing millions which could have cushioned them.
“We are not sure what will happen but we will be forced to come up with ideas that will see the sub council not closing doors. We cannot afford to halt or put an end to any ongoing projects or whatsoever,” he said.
LETLHAKENG COUNCILLORS UNHAPPY
Speaking in hushed voices ahead of the meeting, The Midweek Sun overheard Letlhakeng representatives asking why of all the sub councils Sibisibi and team had to invest with them.
“How can that man be here in Kweneng council headquarters in Molepolole and decide to do this to our people? It is now rainy season and water is spilling into people’s homes, the money could have been used for storm water drainage,” they said.
They also argued that it was wrong that they had to first hear about the matter at headquarters level when they could have been informed about the goings-on earlier as the issue affected them directly at sub council level.
When reassuring them, Kgari explained in his speech that he was aware of their concerns and promised that they were not being overlooked on the matter.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT
According to Local Government Act which speaks to pecuniary interests, where a member of council has direct or indirect interest in a contract or proposed contract or any other matter the member shall disclose both in writing and verbally to the mayor or chairperson his or her interest.
It further says the member shall not take part in the consideration or discussion unless allowed to do so.
The Act further says a member shall not use his or her position or privileges or confidential information obtained as a member of council for private gain or to improperly benefit another person.
A member who uses his or her position or privilege or confidential information obtained as a member of council for private gain is liable to a fine not exceeding P5000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
According to the Act, should Sibisibi be found guilty of the above, he is likely to be imprisoned or fined. Councillors argue that the former boss was in his dealings both a player and a referee.