Court battle looms over sale of V&A

Businessman claims he was not paid for brokering the billion-rand deal

SOUTH Africa’s single biggest property transaction — the sale of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town — is under scrutiny as the gloves come off in a legal scrap, worth millions, over who clinched the deal.

The country’s top tourist destination, a playground for the rich and famous that pulled three million tourists over the last festive season, was sold two years ago for R9.7-billion.

Now 77-year-old entrepreneur Maurice Shawzin, who claims that he was intricately involved in brokering the deal, is going to court to extract his commission from the new owners — a R51-million “facilitation fee”.

The V&A Waterfront is owned by Growthpoint Properties, the largest property company on the JSE, and the Public Investment Corporation, which represents the Government Employees Pension Fund. Growthpoint owns and manages more than 400 properties in South Africa and Australia.

Last weekend, US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters stayed at the Table Bay Hotel — one of several luxury haunts frequented by rock stars and royalty at the waterfront. The landmark development in Cape Town is home to designer stores such as Gucci and Montblanc, the Two Oceans Aquarium, and yachts and helicopters for charter. It is also the gateway to Robben Island.

President Jacob Zuma released South Africa’s latest tourism figures at the V&A Waterfront two months ago, indicating that foreign visitors spent R76-billion in South Africa last year. By then, a simmering row over who was entitled to cash in for negotiating the 2011 sale of the waterfront had reached boiling point.

Documents filed at the High Court in Cape Town show that parties involved in the deal were exchanging a flurry of lawyers’ letters. By the time Zuma made his speech, summons had already been served on Growthpoint Properties by a liquidator acting on behalf of Shawzin.

Affidavits filed on Shawzin’s behalf show how he and property mogul Neill Bernstein joined forces to convince Dubai World to sell the V&A Waterfront and then introduce a willing buyer, Growthpoint Properties. Lengthy negotiations allegedly followed in London, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Shawzin alleges that the arrangement had the blessing of Growthpoint CEO Norbert Sasse.

Bernstein is a major player in the property world. He spearheaded development at Cape Town’s Foreshore and struck a lucrative business deal five years ago with Donald Trump. He and Shawzin have since parted ways.

Bernstein threatened to sue Dubai World after the V&A Waterfront sale for broking fees, but appears to have walked away from his claim. Calls to his US cellphone number went unanswered on Friday.

Six months ago the high court ruled in favour of Shawzin in a dispute with Bernstein’s company, Devland Holdings. The order dissolved their partnership and appointed Cape Town liquidator Andre van Heerden to pursue the “facilitation fee” claimed by Shawzin. Van Heerden has already served summons on Growthpoint, signalling his intention to take the fee dispute to the high court.

“Growthpoint does not believe there is any merit in the claim and will therefore defend it,” said legal representative Riaan du Plessis, a director at Glyn Marais Incorporated.

A plea filed by the law firm says Growthpoint had “no knowledge of the existence of the partnership” and denies ever entering into an agreement with the partners to acquire control of the V&A Waterfront.

An affidavit by professional valuer John van der Spuy, in support of Shawzin’s claim, calculates the “fee” due for facilitating such a sale to be worth just less than R51-million.

Van der Spuy, who acted as a consultant to a consortium that bid on the original sale of the waterfront by the Transnet Pension Fund, said there was “no estate agent” involved in the sale to Growthpoint.

Shawzin, who developed safari parks around the world, lives in an apartment at the waterfront.