Family feud over ‘lost in translation’ inheritance of R800m
A feud among members of a wealthy KwaZulu-Natal family over an R800m trust has sparked claims of forgery, infidelity and mismanagement of trust funds.
The Schoonhoven family of Richards Bay own a vast property portfolio in the region.
Patriarch Johan Schoonhoven died of cancer in 2015, leaving his sons the Schoonies Familie Trust, which holds shares in several companies that own land on which businesses such as hotels, petrol stations, offices and mall developments are located. It produces significant income and holds assets estimated to be worth between R700m and R800m.
The trust is due to be dissolved in 2030, and the money divided among family members.
Three of Schoonhoven’s sons — Samuel, Johannes Frans and Jean, who are trustees — applied to the Pietermaritzburg high court to give them the power to decide who will benefit and by how much. Samuel is the biological father of Jean, who was later adopted by Johan and his wife Begda (Bessie).
Key to their argument was the interpretation of Schoonhoven’s trust deed and his will, which were written in Afrikaans. They maintained that “on proper interpretation of the trust deed” they, as trustees, should be entitled to determine who the beneficiaries of the trust will be when it is dissolved.
However, another of Schoonhoven’s sons, Pieter, argued that the trust deed stipulates that all family members, including those legally adopted and their offspring, should receive a share.
Pieter, who has an adopted daughter, was listed as the first respondent in the application, which was argued in court in March last year. Other respondents included Bessie and eight grandchildren. However, only Pieter opposed the application. Pieter was a trustee, but was removed in 2017. He has instituted a counterclaim seeking the removal of his brothers as trustees, and that case is pending.
Judge Elsje-Marie Bezuidenhout this week dismissed the three brothers’ application. She was scathing in her ruling, saying that Samuel, Johan Frans and Bessie had decided to make changes to Schoonhoven’s will after his death, and that Johan Frans had
forged his father’s signature.
This had been established when Pieter brought in a handwriting expert, after which the original will was reinstated.
Bezuidenhout found that the relationship between the warring brothers is “strained, to put it mildly” with that between Samuel and Pieter “particularly acrimonious”.
Pieter had argued that when his father executed his will in 2010, he was aware of the animosity between Pieter and Samuel, and that his brothers had “ganged up” against him to have him removed as trustee. He alleged Samuel had had an affair with his wife, leading to his divorce and ultimately open hostility between them. Samuel denied this.
Pieter told the court his brothers would take decisions “calculated to prejudice him and his descendants” by rewording the trust deed to create the false impression the trustees were entitled to choose beneficiaries.
He submitted his father had indicated that the capital beneficiaries be treated equally.
Bezuidenhout said in her ruling “the affidavits filed on both sides contain an unfortunate amount of snide, sarcastic and insulting remarks, which should not be in court papers. Allegations of dishonesty, adultery and mismanagement of trust funds have been made which further contribute to the general unpleasantness evident from the papers.”
She said Schoonhoven’s will had established a testamentary trust, the “Johan en Bessie Schoonhoven Trust”, and “expressly nominated eight of his grandchildren as capital beneficiaries”.
Among the causes the Schoonhoven family has been reported to back financially are Round Table International charity initiatives and Richards Bay Cansa House. They built the state-of-the-art Richards Bay Medical Institute in honour of Schoonhoven snr.
While the family keeps a low profile, a 2020 report in the Zululand Observer lists their properties as Junction 14 , Taxi City Mtubatuba, Esikhawini Mall, Esikhawini Plaza, Meerensee Mall, Virgin Active Richards Bay, Tuzi Gazi Esplanade, Absa Building Empangeni, Bon Hotel Richards Bay Waterfront, Bon Hotel Empangeni and Protea Hotel Umfolozi River, among others.
Bezuidenhout said the matter had been allocated to her because “my first language is Afrikaans and both the trust deed and will were written in Afrikaans”.
“The application papers have been drafted in English... I discovered to my dismay, whilst reading the papers and the heads of argument, that there was a dispute between the parties regarding the correct English translation of the relevant portions of the trust deed and the will.
“I indicated to counsel that I did not intend entertaining any argument on what the correct English translation of the relevant documents was as I understood the meaning of the relevant portions and that I would convey that meaning in my judgment.”
Samuel and Johan Frans claimed they had been running the trust since 2008 when Schoonhoven moved to the Western Cape. Pieter disputed this, claiming his father “exercised effective control over the business of the trust up until he fell ill in 2014” and that his brothers had “seized control of the trust” after their father’s death.
“It is common cause that the deceased was a strong-minded and astute entrepreneur who managed his business interests with close attention,” Bezuidenhout said. Pieter was first employed in the family business but after his relationship with the brothers broke down, he took early retirement and moved to the Western Cape in May 2011. He receives a monthly payment of R87,000 from the trust.
In 2010 Schoonhoven was diagnosed with cancer and lost his voice but still communicated using a device. He returned to Richards Bay in April 2015 and died the next month, aged 76.
Bezuidenhout said of particular concern was the definition in the documents of begunstigdes and kapitaalbegunstigdes, or beneficiaries, capital beneficiaries and income beneficiaries.
“None of the parties have said much in their affidavits about the meaning of the phrase uit die geledere van…, translated as ‘from or out of the ranks of…’,” she said, adding: “The use of these words alone indicates, in my view, a process whereby beneficiaries are chosen or selected from [seven listed] categories.”
The powers of the trustees, she found, were wide ranging, enabling them to “do whatever they deem necessary to control the trust property for the best benefit of the beneficiaries”.
The judge said the papers made it clear that while Schoonhoven attested to his last will and testament on July 21 2010, two of his sons and his wife “unilaterally” decided to change it by substituting the nominated executor, a Mr Mandelstam, with a Mr Soldat, who Schoonhoven “allegedly preferred”.
“They also changed the date of the will by deleting July 21 2010 and inserting April 30 2015. [Johan Frans] signed the will as if he was the deceased, in other words, he forged the deceased’s signature,” the judge found.
Speaking through their lawyers, the trustees said they plan to appeal against the judgment. “The grounds for the appeal with be dealt with fully in the application for leave to appeal. As the matter is sub judice we have no further comment.”
Responding on behalf of Pieter Schoonhoven, JF Botha of JB Law Attorneys, said: “We do not see how the matter can be newsworthy as it merely involved an interpretation of an agreement. Our client is abiding by the order of the court.”