Former president Jacob Zuma. (Photo by Jerome Delay / POOL / AFP)
Former president Jacob Zuma’s family has been given until New Year’s Eve to move out of their luxurious R3.6-million Johannesburg home, which was auctioned off by liquidators in June.
The property was originally rented for Zuma by his former confidante and ANC MP Sizani Dlamini-Dubazana after he was fired as deputy by president Thabo Mbeki in June 2005 and needed somewhere to stay.
Dlamini-Dubazana’s company, Hola Recruitment and Selection, then bought the property for Zuma with a loan of R3.4-million received from the Ithala Development Finance Corporation, the KwaZulu-Natal government bank, under controversial circumstances.
The house, which was unoccupied before Zuma moved in, was renovated by Dlamini-Dubazana, and the furniture and fixtures upgraded to the former head of state’s taste and standards.
She was also responsible for building a security guardhouse and putting in other security features.
In her affidavit to the Zondo commission last year, Dlamini-Dubazana said a sale agreement for the house between Hola and Zuma’s nephew, Khulubuse Zuma, collapsed after he failed to secure a loan to service the bond.
The commission had investigated the circumstances under which Zuma came to live in the property after being fired when he was charged with corruption over R1.38-million he received from his former advisor Schabir Shaik.
Shaik was jailed for 15 years over the payments but later released on medical parole.
Dlamini-Dubazana said she had later used Hola to raise a bond on the property from Absa, which in 2011, went to court to have the company liquidated after repayments were not made.
In November 2018, Dlamini-Dubazana went to court to force Khulubuse Zuma to compel the occupants, who are understood to include Phumzile Zuma, Duduzane Zuma’s younger sister, to make the premises available for marketing by property agents.
The four-bedroom, two-bathroom house, which occupies a 2 684m2 plot in Johannesburg’s upmarket Parktown suburb, was placed on auction by the sheriff on 9 June after Hola was liquidated on the instruction of Absa Bank.
Despite this, members of Zuma’s family still live in the house and, according to the liquidators, are refusing to obey the instruction to leave.
On 3 November, liquidators Tshwane Trust Co (Pty) Ltd issued “the occupant/tenant” of the house with notice that, as a result of the liquidation of Hola Recruitment, the premises “will now be sold”.
“In the light of the above, we give herewith notice to you to vacate the property no later than 31 December 2022. Will you contact us urgently when you have vacated the property if it happens before 31 December 2022 to enable us to make arrangements to obtain the keys from you and to place security guards if necessary,” the notice reads.
Antoinette Slabbert, a spokesperson for the liquidators, confirmed that the notice had been issued as part of the process of liquidating Hola.
“We are in the process of liquidating Hola Recruitment. The property is to be sold as part of the liquidation process. The notice to vacate the premises has been issued as part of this process,” Slabbert said.
She said the Zumas had not vacated the premises. “We are seeking guidance as to what step is to be taken next.”
Slabbert declined to comment on whether rent was being paid to the liquidators for the house and whether they would approach the courts to enforce their eviction notice.
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