Exclusive: SA authorities seize Mawere house over ...

Exclusive: SA authorities seize Mawere house over debts

Nyashadzashe Ndoro

South African High Court has sequestrated Zimbabwean businessman Mutumwa Mawere’s double storey home is Sunninghill, a commercial and residential suburb of Sandton in Gauteng, following his failure to settle his bond with a local bank, Zim Now can exclusively reveal.

Mawere, who fled to South Africa after corruption investigations started against him when his former company, Shabanie Mashava Mines came under scrutiny with him being accused of prejudicing the State of over ZWL$300 billion, is accused of failing to pay a loan he accessed from ABSA.

Accordingly, ABSA, along with ABSA Home Loans Guarantee Company in 2021 made an application at the Johannesburg High Court, seeking a default judgement and execution order to attach and auction his property to the highest bidder.

The High Court granted the appellants a sequestration order allowing one of his properties, a spacious four bed double storey home is Sunninghill to be handed over to the Master of the High Court and eventually auctioned.

The Masters Reference is G291/2023. Location: Residence 3 “Tana Lodge” 39 Tana Road Measuring 517m2) Sunninghill, Gauteng.

The court noted that Mawere obtained a R2 million loan from ABSA to purchase the upmarket apartment in Rivonia, Sandton, in October 2019. The businessman was also granted a R400 000 loan on security of his bond and ABSA Home Loans Guarantee Company acted as surety for him.

The terms of the loan agreement were that Mawere paid a little over R21 000 a month in instalments for 192 months. But he defaulted and incurred more than R133 000 in arrears. Despite demand by the bank to settle his debt, Mawere reportedly did not pay up, leaving the bank with no option but to go to court.

In his defence, Mawere blamed his failure to service his bond on the Covid-19 pandemic, which he said made it difficult for him to secure tenants.

In April last year, South African High Court judge Justice Motsamai Makume ordered Mawere to pay the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) R67 million that is owed by his company Aldolex.

The judge further slammed Mawere for abusing the court process and mounting a Starlingrad type process aimed at preventing the IDC from executing a judgement in its favour.