No-good offices?
Was mineworkers’ orphan fund looted to pay for fancy new office?
It seems that R255m meant for mineworkers’ orphans was used to fund an office upgrade for Mvunonala Holdings last year
Last year, Mvunonala Holdings executives, bored with their drab offices in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosebank, switched to swish new offices in nearby Sandton, the heart of investment banking and asset management in SA. The new office was renamed Mvunonala House after a facelift. Such a move is an everyday occurrence in the corporate world — except that the company is alleged to have raided the Bophelo Beneficiary Fund (BBF) to the tune of nearly R255m to do it. The BBF is the custodian of death benefits paid by the Anglo American Platinum Group Provident Fund, intended for the upkeep of mineworkers’ orphans under the age of 18. The Financial Services Board (FSB) has now placed BBF under the care of curator Juanito Damons, and parent company Mvunonala has since been sold to Vele Investments, led by executive chairman Tshifhiwa Matodzi — a move that Damons hopes will plug some of the shortfall in the entities. (Vele has changed the name of the building to Vele House.)
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