Land on which elite school is built set to be attached
THE land on which Curro Academy, an elite school in Mahikeng, North West, is situated will be attached by the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
This came after the North West High Court gave the AFU a preservation order to attach the land valued at nearly R144-million last week. In addition to the school, the land also has blocks of vacant flats.
National Prosecuting Authority provincial spokesman Frank Lesenyego said investigations by the anticorruption task team revealed that a private company called Hawks Landing, which is under liquidation, had 23 erfs belonging to the Mahikeng municipality unlawfully transferred to its name.
At the time of the transfer, Hawks Landing had not paid the municipality the purchase price of R144-million. Hawks Landing could not be reached for comment.
“The company only paid the Mahikeng local municipality an amount of R5-million in 2009 after the land was transferred to its name, and no further payments were made since,” he said.
He said some of the erfs have since been sold to companies whose directors and shareholders were directors and shareholders of Hawks Landing when the transfer of the land took place. Some of the erfs were dissipated.
Lesenyego said the land on which Curro Academy was built and the incomplete flats adjacent to the Mmabatho Stadium have also become subject to investigation.
“The investigations also reveal that these flats are built on unlawfully obtained land and a questionable contract with the Social Housing Regulatory Authority,” Lesenyego said.
It is alleged that some of the directors of Hawks Landing have remained in control of the land, which is approximately 93 hectares, even after liquidation, by transfer- ring the erfs to different companies in which they have interests.
The preservation order states that the land will remain under the control of a curator appointed by the high court until a forfeiture order has been granted.
Curro Holdings ’ s Mari Lategan said they were aware of a preservation order relating to an alleged illegal transaction by Hawks Landing.
She said while Curro Academy Mahikeng is situated on one of these erfs, the school was not part of the investigation. She said Curro has not participated in any illegal activity in the acquisition of the land.
“We are in possession of all the title deeds and necessary legal documentation to show that we lawfully bought and obtained the property from the developer.”
She said in the light of this, Curro would oppose the application by the AFU for a forfeiture order. In the meantime, the school will continue to operate.