AG, parliament want answers on R31-million Ingonyama Trust Board ‘loans’

The Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) and parliament’s land reform portfolio committee want answers from the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) about “loans” worth R31-million it gave to Ingonyama Holdings (IH) and has failed to account for.

Earlier this month committee members raised questions about the fate of the money — an initial tranche of R10-million and several subsequent transfers totalling R31-million — that the auditor general has queried and red flagged with the ITB, which was in parliament for a hearing on its annual report.

A dispute between the auditor general and the ITB about the payments has delayed the submission of the entity’s financial statements to parliament.

The ITB administers nearly three million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal on behalf of the Zulu monarch, the sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust, but has been at loggerheads with parliament and the auditor general regarding its corporate governance failures.

Ingonyama Holdings was set up as an investment wing in November 2019 by ITB chairperson Jerome Ngwenya, who is also a director of the IH along with former ITB chief executive Lucas Mkhwanazi.