Niehaus: Kebble debt dispute resolved

African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Carl Niehaus and trustees of insolvent mining magnate Brett Kebble have reached an agreement over money they want from him, which means his assets won’t be attached, Niehaus said on Friday.

Business Day reported that trustees of Kebble’s estate had applied to court to attach Niehaus’s assets for allegedly failing to repay a R100 000 loan.

Niehaus told Sapa that the money he received from Kebble, who was murdered in 2005, was payment for media work done by the media and consultancy company he ran from 2003 before becoming an ANC spokesperson.

Liquidators believed that he had been paid for this work when Kebble was insolvent.

Niehaus explained that contesting the claim for the money would have cost him more than the amount in legal fees, so he agreed to repay it.

However, a dispute arose over the amount of interest and it was during this period that the attachment order came about.

His lawyers had since reached an agreement with the trustees and from the end of January he would repay R10 ,000 a month for 10 months.

“The story is sorted out. The payments will proceed at the end of this month,” he said.

Business Day said the court order against Niehaus was not the only one.

Trustees were trying to recover R25-million from Kebble beneficiaries.

These included the ANC, the ANC Youth League, Kebble’s brother, Guy, and financial journalist David Gleason.

So far money has been recovered from only one of the 17 beneficiaries, the estate of the late John Gomomo, a former president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which has repaid R480 000.

Business Day reported that the South African Revenue Service has also been cleared to lodge a R183-million claim against the Kebble estate for unpaid income tax, PAYE and VAT.

Kebble’s estate at his death was estimated at about R40-million. - Sapa