SIU recovers 208 Villa Liza stands sold for R18 000 each

Two hundred and eight municipal stands in Villa Liza township, near Boksburg, were transferred into private hands without a single council resolution and without the Ekurhuleni Municipality receiving a cent, a Special Investigating Unit investigation has found.

The scheme is valued at R58 million. The SIU has already obtained an interim interdict stopping the occupants or registered owners of those stands from selling, transferring, marketing, leasing, donating or developing the properties, and on Friday it will ask the Special Tribunal to review and set aside the transfers and to recover the municipality’s losses.

President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the investigation in October 2024 under Proclamation No. 195 of 2024. It examined serious maladministration in the transfer of 221 vacant stands and assessed conduct that violated applicable legislation, unlawful conduct by municipal employees or agents, and the losses suffered by the municipality or the state.

How the scheme worked

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, SIU Head Leonard Lekgetho set out the method. An individual identifying unallocated municipal land in Villa Liza would orchestrate a fraudulent sale and transfer of that land to private buyers. The scheme, he said, involved the agent collaborating with a conveyancing firm, Moki Attorneys, which played a key role in falsifying documents for registration at the Johannesburg Deeds Office.

The firm was not on the municipality’s panel of approved attorneys. It certified that all documents submitted to the Deeds Office were true and correct. Forged rates clearance certificates and fabricated powers of attorney were used to deceive the system.

The transactions ran between 2018 and 2022 and covered 208 of the 221 stands examined. Payments were made in cash, which Lekgetho said complicated the tracing of the money.

One person who acted as the so-called estate agent had died on 10 January 2022, a fact the SIU confirmed through the Department of Home Affairs.

The conveyancer, Kabelo Valentine Moki, and his spouse, Makhosazana Emelda Moki, personally benefited, acquiring 73 stands through Velamelda Trust and Mokolane Investments. According to the Deeds Office each stand sold for R18 000. The municipal valuation of the stands ranged from R80 000 to R3,7 million, and they were later resold at an average of R250 000 each. Some have since been developed by the new owners, but the municipality derives no revenue from those properties.

Who has been referred, and where the evidence stops

Lekgetho said the SIU has found no evidence indicating the participation of Deeds Office officials or of municipal officials in the scheme.

The unit has submitted 208 referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority for possible prosecution. The firm has been referred to the Legal Practice Council for professional consequences management, to the South African Revenue Service for investigation into undeclared income and tax irregularities, and 147 referrals have gone to the Financial Intelligence Centre over the conveyancer’s non-compliance with FICA legislation while effecting the unlawful transfers.

“Fraudulent schemes of this nature not only erode public trust but also deprive communities of essential development opportunities, thereby undermining municipalities’ constitutional mandate to serve their constituents effectively,” Lekgetho said.

What the municipality has been told to fix

The SIU has recommended that Ekurhuleni implement proper verification before registering municipal services for new properties, maintain, update and verify its asset register with effective controls over immovable property, conduct regular inspections of municipal-owned land, and run an annual audit of immovable municipal assets.

It has also recommended that the municipality consider an agreement with the Deeds Registration Office to place safeguards on any transfer of municipal land.

For residents of Villa Liza, the practical effect of the interdict is that the stands at the centre of the case are frozen. Nobody can sell, lease or develop them while the tribunal application is heard. The recovery application on Friday is the next dated step, and the criminal referrals now sit with the National Prosecuting Authority.

The SIU said it remains committed to working with law enforcement and regulatory agencies to recover the losses and restore the properties to what Lekgetho described as their rightful owners, the people of Ekurhuleni.

Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), SIU investigation uncovers R58m Ekurhuleni fraudulent land scheme, https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/siu-investigation-uncovers-r58m-ekurhuleni-fraudulent-land-scheme