Durban — Ingonyama Trust Board chairperson Inkosi Thanduyise Mzimela has dismissed rumours that the Trust has agreed to help a Mpumalanga-based businessman with R12 million to buy a mine.
Last week the Daily News received a letter that was addressed to this company with a Malahleni address in Mpumalanga province which was apparently written by Inkosi Mzimela.
The letter which was not signed was assuring the company that Ingonyama Trust Board has agreed to pay R12m to the company and was ready to disburse the funds.
The paper also saw the sales agreement between the seller and the purchaser.
The overall cost of the sale is estimated at R28m but it appeared that the purchaser was short with R12m.
Inkosi told the Daily News, on Saturday, that the company had approached the Trust to help it buy the mine which is in Newcastle north-west of KwaZulu-Natal. Inkosi said the Trust turned down the request and there was no agreement to fund the sale.
Asked about the surety letter he apparently wrote to the company, inkosi denied that he wrote the letter, saying it was the company that drafted the letter as a proposal to show how it should look if the board agrees to fund the project.
The deal was also dismissed by the Trust chief executive officer Vela Mngwengwe who said if there was such an agreement it would have been tabled in the board for approval and since the board was not aware of the deal there are funds that would be released for that mine project.
A source with the Trust who spoke on condition of anonymity said earlier this month a person who is said to be buying the mine came to meet inkosi at the Trust offices.
In that meeting inkosi called only a legal officer to be present.
According to the source the businessman came with a letter that was supposed to be signed by inkosi in his capacity as chairperson but the legal officer advised inkosi against the deal.
It also emerged that after meeting with inkosi the business remained in the building and asked to meet the CEO but his was turned down by the CEO according to the source.
“It was a strange meeting because the CEO was not invited and inkosi only called the legal officer.
“There are rumours that the businessman had claimed that the king had blessed the deal and wanted inkosi to sign the agreement. What is questionable in the letter is that although it mentions that the deal will benefit both parties, it was not clear whether the Trust would become a shareholder or not,” said the source.
Furthermore, the source said the businessman had claimed that the king had assured him that he would inject R300m investment into the mine.
Those who were opposed to the appointment of inkosi to chair the board had warned about scrupulous business people from Mpumalanga who were planning to capture the Trust for their own benefits.
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