- Deputy President David Mabuza’s wife, Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi, an estate agent, is named in high court papers as allegedly receiving “substantial commissions” on the sale of hotly contested Nkomazi Wilderness land in the Badplaas area.
- The pattern of fake land claims and overvaluation of farm values is believed to have extended throughout Mpumalanga – a fraud estimated to have cost taxpayers R2-billion.
- The Mpumalanga Land Claims Commissioner and a middleman local farmer were at the centre of land-sale “flips” that saw instant superprofits of tens of millions of rands – at the expense of South African taxpayers.
- Campaigners against the illegal land grabs have been murdered. Conservationist Fred Daniel has faced harassment, arson, smear campaigns and death threats in his fight against false claims and blatant fraud.
- Leading estate agency Pam Golding has been closely involved in some of the Nkomazi Wilderness deals – though it is highly unusual for a commercial property company to broker land under hereditary claim. CEO Andrew Golding did not respond to questions seeking clarity on the matter.
- A 12,000ha swathe of a once-beautiful nature reserve, in the foothills of the Makhonjwa Mountains, is collapsing into obscurity and ruin – having been used since 2015 as a fattening kraal for cattle.
A witness statement submitted to the Pretoria High Court in early February alleged Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi, the wife of South Africa’s deputy president, had…
