Couple’s lives on the rocks after yacht deal flounders
Businessman yet to pay R3.5m purchase price for yacht after running it aground
What made it worse was that this happened during Covid when we were earning zero income from our business but had huge overheads
Elmarie Kofahl
● A businessman who steered a newly acquired R3.5m motor yacht onto rocks off Robben Island on his first outing has yet to pay for the vessel more than a year after the accident, leaving an elderly couple in financial distress.
Francois Olivier ran aground in flat conditions on a winter evening in June last year after entering a restricted area around Robben Island. A subsequent probe found he should not have been there, did not have the right skipper’s licence and lacked necessary safety equipment.
Notably, his navigational equipment was also faulty. As a result his insurance claim was rejected.
Olivier bought the 45ft Atlantic Princess from Elmarie and Joachim Kofahl, who say they haven’t received payment yet. Olivier, they say, cancelled an initial deposit and sold another R2m motor yacht listed as collateral in the purchase agreement for Atlantic Princess.
Olivier declined to answer questions, saying he needed to wait until “certain matters have been resolved”. “This is very much a legal matter and I am being guided by my legal team. I would like to add though, that my aim is to find a way forward that carefully considers all parties involved.”
Elmarie Kofahl, 68, said she and her ailing husband — who is 10 years older than her — sold the yacht to offset a huge hole in their finances caused by the pandemic. They needed the proceeds of the sale to get by.
“My husband tried to commit suicide as he couldn’t handle the stress at his age,” Elmarie said. “He was in intensive care and then hospital for three months with kidney and liver failure and organ break-up and then had to go into a frail-care facility as he had lost the ability to walk. I have had to bring him home as we could no longer afford the frail-care cost, adding a huge burden to my own mental wellbeing.
“We were relying on the proceeds of the sale of that boat. We now are in a bad situation. What made it worse was that this happened during Covid when we were earning zero income from our business but had huge overheads. I’ve even had to start selling some of our precious belongings, such as my husband’s car and my watch, which was a 30th anniversary gift. I have also had to put our retirement home on the market,” she said.
Olivier is chair of foreign-registered global investment company Prosperian Capital.
The Atlantic Princess has had high-profile owners via a fractional ownership scheme, including former Miss World Anneline Kriel and her husband Peter Bacon, and ANC veteran Tokyo Sexwale. It was imported from the UK and weighs about 12t.
Documents indicate that Olivier purchased the boat on May 27 last year after an on-board inspection in Gordon’s Bay. “All risk in and to the vessel … shall pass to the purchaser on the date of delivery,” read the sale agreement. It ran aground less than two weeks later.
“We sent him a breach letter but to date he has not sent me a notice to terminate the agreement,” said Elmarie Kofahl.
The impasse prompted a legal challenge in the Cape Town high court last year. Olivier lodged a counterclaim for costs incurred after the accident. The Kofahls, however, did not have funds to proceed with the case.
Olivier declined to comment on the circumstances of the accident but a preliminary report by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) is critical of his role as skipper.
Obtained by the Kofahls via a public access to information application, it reads: “The skipper caused the Atlantic Princess to enter the one-nautical-mile prohibited entry zone around Robben Island … It became evident that the skipper [Olivier] was not familiar with the operation and the reliability of all the navigational aids on the Atlantic Princess and never properly planned the trip taking weather forecast, state of the tide and the no-go area around Robben Island into consideration.”
Olivier said in a court plea last year that it was implied in the sale agreement that the yacht “would be free of latent defects and fit for use. Among the latent defects listed were an unreliable GPS system.” Had he been
aware of “the serious issues with the navigational systems”, he would not have bought the boat.
Olivier filed a counter claim of R408,232 for expenses incurred after the accident, which included R255,000 for the Samsa investigation and R47,150 for salvage costs. Removal of the wreck from Robben Island could cost a further R500,000, said the counter claim.
An affidavit by Derrick Levy, who brokered the deal between the Kofahls and Olivier, said Olivier was made aware of “various mechanical issues with the vessel that would need to be attended to for the vessel to pass a seaworthy inspection, this being a requirement for ownership”.
“Olivier was prepared to acquire the vessel notwithstanding these aforementioned issues which he indicated he would attend to at his own expense. In return, Elmarie discounted the asking price of the vessel by R50,000,” said Levy.