The sequestration application against President Jacob Zuma’s son was formally withdrawn after he paid about R450 000 he owed his wedding co-ordinators.
|||Durban - The sequestration application against President Jacob Zuma’s son, Edward, was formally withdrawn at the Durban High Court on Tuesday after he paid the sum of about R450 000 he owed his wedding co-ordinators.
The businessman, who claimed to have no assets when ordered by a court to pay Functions for Africa – the company that managed his grand wedding at Tala Game Reserve – agreed, last week, to settle his long-standing debt.
Clinton Slogrove, from the firm representing the Durban wedding co-ordinator which arranged Zuma’s lavish wedding to Phumelele Shange in October, apologised yesterday for any inconvenience and reputational damage that Zuma might have suffered.
The sequestration application was formally withdrawn and a notice to that effect was filed at the Durban High Court.
Paul Mann, the owner of the company, also instructed his lawyers to abandon the judgment granted on May 22 last year against Zuma.
At the time, the Durban High Court Judge Anton van Zyl granted judgment for R1.5m, and costs and interest, against Zuma for the unpaid bill.
After the judgment, Zuma signed an acknowledgement of debt in which he agreed to pay R1 526 624.92, less R40 000 that had been received by the events company, in monthly instalments of R80 000, the first of which was payable on or before July 2 last year.
In papers Mann had said Zuma made “erratic” payments to the sum of R1.3m. The last payment was received in November.
Secreting
“I believe that the respondent (Zuma) has substantial asset value but has been secreting those away, alternatively is moving assets into corporate vehicles to avoid creditors,” he said in papers.
Mann also said Zuma certainly had funds at his disposal and he was surprised when he informed the sheriff that he had no assets whatsoever.
According to court papers, the full sum outstanding – excluding costs but including interest from November 2011 to last month, sheriff’s charges and advertising charges – stood at R449 963.94.
Arising from Zuma’s failure to pay the company, the court directed the sheriff to attach Zuma’s property.
After numerous attempts at his Kentucky Drive, Durban North, residence, the sheriff delivered a nulla bona (no goods) return on March 19 because Zuma told the court official that he was not the owner of any assets on the premises, Mann said.
Mann said the sheriff had asked Zuma to point out his assets, but he had failed to do so.
In November, on the day Zuma’s property was to be attached, Zuma made a payment of more than R1.5m to the company in a bid to avert an auction of his possessions, including a BMW X5 and household goods.
An investigation of Zuma’s affairs revealed that he was a director or member of numerous corporate entities.
A company search attached to court papers showed Zuma was involved in at least 25 companies and close corporations.
Court papers indicated that Zuma had at least one substantial judgment debt outstanding, Mann said, and that he was clearly given to concluding acknowledgements of debt and contracting for services where he had no reasonable prospect of satisfying his debts.
“He poses a real danger to creditors,” Mann said.
Although Zuma had been called a man of “substantial means” in the media, Mann said a deed search revealed no properties listed in his name.
rizwana.umar@inl.co.za
Daily News