Legal battle erupts as Ingonyama Trust pursues former chair over millions

SABELO NSELE

The Ingoyama Trust Board (ITB) is pointing fingers at its former chairperson, Judge Jerome Ngwenya, for hoarding R41 million of its funds.

The members of the board said they're at their wits' end attempting to recoup R41 million in loans that were borrowed by its investment arm, Ingonyama Holdings, when Ngwenya was still the chairperson of the board.

Ngwenya is one of the directors of Ingonyama Holdings, and the board has failed several times to remove him from this position.

The interim chief executive of ITB, Siyamdumisa Vilakazi, said they have taken legal action against Ngwenya.

Vilakazi said Ingonyama Holdings was registered in 2019, and in 2021 it borrowed millions of rand from ITB.

Vilakazi said Ngwenya has refused to answer where this money went.

"This money was paid in three caches. The first batch was R10 million in March 2021, followed by another R10 million in July and then R21 million in November. Since then, Ingonyama Holdings has never produced any financial reports of its expenditure.

The Auditor-General keeps asking when this money is going to be paid back," said Vilakazi.

He said they've applied twice to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to have Ngwenya removed as the director of Ingonyama Holdings.

They've failed in both instances, according to Vilakazi, as Ngwenya's lawyers keep opposing the removal.

"Today we are saying we are distancing ourselves from Ingonyama Holdings. We want people to know that Ingonyama Trust has been taken over by some people. That's why we have taken legal action."

He said he can't explain further on their multi-pronged legal approach since there are ongoing investigations.

"There are also suspicions of corruption that are being probed by the Hawks," said Vilakazi.

Attempts to get Ngwenya's comment were met with anger.

He asked how the board has failed to take away Ingonyama Holdings from him if the company truly belongs to the Ingonyama Trust.

Ngwenya challenged this reporter to send proof of the registration of Ingonyama Holdings, attempts to remove him as the director of the company, and the details of the legal action allegedly taken against him before he could proceed with answering questions.

The deputy chairperson of the Ingonyama Trust, Advocate Linda Zama, said it was a mistake to have Ngwenya as both chairperson of ITB and a director of Ingonyama Holdings simultaneously.

Zama, who was a member of the ITB when Ingonyama Holdings was given R21 million in loans, said she opposed this decision; however, she was outnumbered when the board voted on the matter.

The matter caused her to resign from the board.