Former President Nelson Mandela’s laywer Ismail Ayob has answered some questions about an alleged art scam — but carefully avoided some key questions about ownership of a company involved.
I-Net Bridge put questions to Ayob following stories in the Sunday Times as well as Noseweek — a news publication run by former Sunday Times journalist Martin Welz — in which a detailed history of the alleged scam appears under the headline: The great Mandela Art Row.
The stories follow a failed bid by a company called the Concept Group, which wanted to retrieve R13-million it had paid in licence fees and advance royalty payment to Magnifique Investment and Holdings which is linked to Ayob — for the exclusive right to reproduce and market a series of drawings of hands by former president Nelson Mandela.
Liquidators of Concept — which apparently had put more than their market capitalisation into the project — tried to retrieve the money but Ayob produced a copy of an agreement with its lawyers of which the liquidators had not been aware. The claim was then dropped.
Ayob, when approached to answer questions on the alleged scam following this week’s Noseweek piece, insisted that questions be e-mailed to him.
In response to a question about who were the shareholders of Magnifique, he said: ”The money paid has always been held in the name of Magnifique Investment and Holding (Pty) Ltd.”
In reply to a question as to whom the shareholders were now and what percentage of the shares they each hold, he said: ”The only shareholders at the time of the signing of the agreement right up to date are the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Mandela Trust.”
He did not provide a breakdown of the percentage.
In reply to questions about how much of the R13-million, if anything, has been paid to the Mandela Children’s Fund and the Mandela Foundation, with regards to when it was paid over, and by whom, he said South African Revenue Services will first be paid all tax due to it and the shareholders of Magnifique will thereafter be paid the total balance. He said he himself ”has only been paid professional fees”.
Asked if the official written permission was obtained from the Mandela Foundation and from the department of trade and industry to use former President Mandela’s name in marketing the artworks, as is required by law, he replied: ”All residual rights to the Mandela name and image and works belong to President Mandela or are held on his behalf. Accordingly no permission is required from any government department.”
Noseweek said the drawings weren’t those of Mandela — but those of artist Hugh McCallum. Ayob said they were drawn by Madiba.
He noted that President Mandela ”has at all times been kept fully informed of each step and no action was taken without his prior approval, from the time when the initial proposal was submitted to date”. – I-Net Bridge