R3.5bn ghost mall looms over Pretoria East
PRETORIA - A ghostly mall looms over the leafy suburbs of Pretoria East.
The multi-million rand Villa Mall stands empty, despite being 75 percent complete.
It came after the Reserve Bank found the developer, Sharemax, had contravened the Bank's Act.
It led to the project's collapse, with allegations that the company operated as a Ponzi scheme.
And, 15 years later, the development is not growing the local economy but rather bringing down property prices.
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IOL News
15 hours ago
- IOL News
What's holding back South Africa's economy? Key insights from experts
Infrastructure failure and bottlenecks at ports, are among factors costing the economy billions of Rands. Image: eThekwini Municipality Failing infrastructure, systemic corruption, collapsed rule of law, state incapacity in public service and state-owned entities, erosion of local government, and high crime rates are among the key factors causing a decline in South Africa's economic growth, according to experts. This is despite the positive growth from the agricultural sector, where the Gross Value Added (GVA) expanded by 15.8% in the first quarter of 2025. Agriculture became the main driver of South Africa's overall GDP growth in Q1 2025, contributing 0.4 percentage points to the national GDP expansion of 0.1%. However, experts say that agriculture, although it has driven the country's economic growth, is volatile and dependent on factors such as weather, electricity supply, and transportation, among others. Professor William Gumede, from the Wits School of Governance, said the country's political culture has made corruption, incompetence, and misbehaviour acceptable if it is done by those who share a similar colour, party, and ideology, which has contributed to the economic decline. 'Property rights are vulnerable. The rule of law in many parts has collapsed, the lower courts are inefficient, and policing is ineffective. Corruption is systemic. State capacity in many parts of the public services, among state-owned entities, and local government has been eroded. Crime is out of control. The state cannot efficiently enforce laws, rules, or policies. Infrastructure has collapsed in many areas. Many sectors of the economy, such as public transport, mining, and construction, have become informalised. The country has been deindustrialising,' Gumede said. He added that state infrastructure development plans and forums, including the Reconstruction and Recovery Plan and initiatives such as Operation Vulindlela, have become virtual talk shops, and structures set up to play an oversight and coordination role, and provide governance over infrastructure, have not been able to do so. 'The breakdown of infrastructure drives up inflation, just as state, SOE, and policy failures do, as they drive up prices, the cost of living, cost of business, and erode savings and deter future investment. The Reserve Bank has warned that the breakdown in infrastructure threatens the stability of the financial system. 'Loadshedding, for example, has caused not only the loss of lives, but also of businesses, capital, skills, employment, and investment. It has contributed to South Africa's low-growth path, possibly taking away up to 3% of possible growth. South Africa needs around R150 billion per year just to replace the destroyed infrastructure, let alone build new infrastructure,' Gumede said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading He added that water provision has also plunged, with many of the water infrastructure SOEs, municipal entities, and boards having fallen into disarray. The provision of water in many of South Africa's cities and towns has deteriorated to such an extent that many citizens are without water for long periods during water outages. 'Transnet, the state-owned logistics giant responsible for South Africa's ports, rail, and pipelines, is, like Eskom, a major contributor to the country's low-growth path. Transnet has a debt burden of R136 billion. Its inefficiencies are causing bottlenecks at ports and limiting rail freight, undermining trade. It costs the economy over R1 billion per day," Gumede said. Transnet estimates it needs to invest R200 billion to restore the railways to capacity, however, Gumede said it will be a waste of money to invest in Transnet without bringing in merit-based management, cleaning up procurement by exempting the organisation from preferential procurement rules, and discarding ideological objections to having the organisation fully partner with the private sector in delivering infrastructure services. According to the Department of Public Enterprises, between 2012 and 2023, the debt levels of the largest 10 SOEs rose by R313.6 billion. The government had to bail out these SOEs with R318.1 billion during that period. In its latest Financial Stability Review, the Reserve Bank said while electricity availability appears to be gradually returning to historical trends, other critical infrastructure, such as the supply and quality of water and transport infrastructure, especially rail, port, and road networks, continues to degrade. Gumede said an external economic shock, such as a prolonged fallout with the US Donald Trump administration, will have a disproportionately debilitating impact on the South African economy. Political actors and groups who reckon South Africa can quickly pivot from the US market to alternatives, such as BRICS, have a case of wishful thinking, as a loss of the US market cannot be immediately replaced. A transition to new markets cannot be achieved overnight. Worse, SA's state trade negotiation capacity is currently possibly at its weakest, most over-ideological, least agile, and opportunity-minded, since the end of apartheid. State capacity has been eroded in state trade structures, as in other parts of the state, through cadre deployment, exclusion of minorities, and informalisation, he said. China may be South Africa's largest trading partner by volume, but it mostly takes South Africa's raw material, not manufactured products – it has trade barriers, but sends manufactured products to South Africa, which displaces local jobs. US companies manufacture in South Africa, meaning they have larger multiplier impacts, Gumede said. The International Monetary Fund ranks South Africa as the most difficult place to do business globally among 49 countries in the IMF's ease of doing business index. It argues that halving SA's restrictive business regulations relative to its emerging market peers could increase medium-run output by 9% and boost employment, Gumede said. He added that policymakers underestimate the impact of state failure, corruption, incompetence, and anti-growth policies on the economy, which reduces revenue and undermines business confidence. In the 1990s, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange had around 850 listed companies. By 2024, this had dropped to under 300, including some companies that have dual listings. He highlighted the lack of inclusive compromises on key policies, the NHI, the Expropriation Law, apparent refusal to renegotiate aspects of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill to make it more inclusive, and perceived anti-American foreign policies have caused investment, capital, and skills flight as some of the factors. 'Many ANC politicians do not genuinely think growth should be at the centre of economic policy, arguing wrongly that to do so will be promoting 'neo-liberalism'. Policies that undermine growth will have to be jettisoned,' Gumede said. He said state debt levels need to be brought down, and key catalytic growth sectors will have to be prioritised. 'Manufacturing remains important; its declining trend needs to be reversed. Agriculture is critical. It is important that land reform is not populist, emotional, ideological and revenge-driven, but rather, that it focuses on securing food; fostering an agricultural, manufacturing, processing, and technology industrial hub; and fostering related artisan, technical, and research skills. This would mean partnering with the private sector to bring back artisan programmes, agricultural technical institutions – especially in the rural areas – and fostering agriculture technology,' he said. Dawie Roodt, a chief economist at the Efficient Group, said the biggest challenge in South Africa is a government that is destructive, inefficient, and is quite often corrupt. 'The government policies are broadly wrong. The Expropriation Bill, for example, is one of those policy choices that is wrong for economic growth because you must protect private property rights. There's also the inefficiency of the state. 'All good things go together in the economy. If per capita GDP goes up, then life expectancy, quality of life, and education follow suit,' Roodt said.
The Citizen
21 hours ago
- The Citizen
Sharemax rescue vehicle on the brink as creditors circle
The moment Nova enters liquidation, its entire debenture debt becomes due and payable. Nova's previous head office in Pretoria, also the former head office of Sharemax. Picture: Moneyweb One of Nova Property Group's service providers has filed liquidation applications against the holding companies of six of its shopping centres – a move that could have serious consequences for former Sharemax investors. If Nova, the entity responsible for repaying these investors (who became debenture holders in terms of the Sharemax rescue scheme), is placed under provisional or final liquidation, all outstanding debentures would become immediately due and payable. Liquidation would also allow for a comprehensive investigation into the events that led to the group's financial collapse and the conduct of its directors and other key stakeholders. Bright Light Solar (BLS), a company that installed solar systems at several Nova shopping centres, filed the liquidation applications last week. BLS claims Nova owes it more than R4 million in unpaid electricity bills and R80 million in penalties for contractual breaches. It further alleges that Nova acted in bad faith and has abused legal processes to delay payment. 'Given the respondent's clear inability to pay its debts and its repeated attempts to delay enforcement, liquidation is the only appropriate remedy,' BLS CEO Kevin Shames claims in court papers. 'The respondent has repeatedly employed procedural tactics to evade its obligations, and the court should not permit further obstruction.' ALSO READ: Nova breaches the Companies Act for the eighth straight year Solar disputes and unpaid claims According to court papers, BLS installed solar solutions at Nova's Waterglen, Carletonville, Tarentaal, Witbank, Village and Florida shopping centres. In terms of the agreements, Nova would buy electricity from BLS at favourable tariffs for 25 years. However, Shames claims that soon after the commencement of the agreements, Nova started to default on payments despite collecting payment from the shopping centres' tenants. By May 2024 Nova was more than R4 million in arrears for all centres. Shames claims that Nova and BLS later concluded a repayment agreement stipulating that Nova would settle its arrears by October last year. Kevin Shames, CEO of Bright Light Solar. Image: Bright Light Solar website However, Nova failed to make the payments and subsequently issued summonses against BLS for R4.3 million, claiming that BLS did not comply with an oral agreement concluded in October 2021 requiring BLS to install batteries at the centres. Nova also amended the summonses on several occasions. Shames vehemently denies that such oral agreement was ever concluded and claims the summonses were only aimed at delaying repayment. 'This was a coordinated and premeditated litigation strategy aimed at manufacturing a fictitious dispute where none existed in an attempt to obstruct the liquidation applications which had by that stage become inevitable,' he states. BLS subsequently cancelled the electricity supply agreements and warned Nova that it may initiate liquidation proceedings. However, Nova rushed to the court and obtained an urgent ex parte order interdicting BLS from initiating winding up proceedings. The court later set aside the interdict with a punitive cost order, and the judge criticised Nova for failing to provide full disclosure. Shames labels these actions as abusive and in bad faith. 'The abusive ex parte application [and] the mala fide proposed amendments to summonses demonstrate a pattern of conduct that was not initiated to pursue any genuine disputes but were instead a deliberate and bad faith attempt to obstruct legitimate winding-up proceedings.' ALSO READ: Irba surprisingly withdraws SCA application to appeal former Sharemax auditors' judgment Nova to defend Nova chair Connie Myburgh claimed in response to Moneyweb questions that BLS's applications are 'vexatious, opportunistic and without merit'. 'The applications are an abuse of legal process, launched merely for the sake of embarrassing and extorting the Nova Group, under circumstances where Bright Lite Solar [sic] is owed nothing by the said subsidiaries, and there are serious factual disputes between the subsidiaries and Bright Light Solar, as set out in summonses issued by the subsidiaries against Bright Light Solar, late last year.' Myburgh also stated that the Nova companies claim more than R80 million in damages from BLS. 'Notwithstanding the above disputes and damages claims, Bright Lite Solar [sic] deemed it appropriate to issue liquidation proceedings in a totally inappropriate manner, and merely as an extortive defence mechanism.' He also stated that the liquidation applications do not render debentures payable. (Read Myburgh's complete response here). ALSO READ: Irba expert witness questioned at Sharemax disciplinary hearing Debenture repayment obligations If the Nova companies are indeed placed into provisional or final liquidation, the debentures will become immediately payable. This is specified in the Nova Debenture Trust deed, which forms part of the Schemes of Arrangements (SoA) that tasked Nova with repaying former Sharemax investors. The original SoA required Nova to repay investors by 20 January 2022, but the group was not in a financial position to do so. The board claimed it had complete discretion to delay repayments – a position disputed by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and the group's auditors at the time. According to Nova's most recent set of annual financial statements (AFS) for the year to the end of February 2024, outstanding debentures amounted to R2.2 billion. ALSO READ: SA's most spectacular case of corporate capture Not the first liquidation application BLS is not the first company to initiate winding-up proceedings against Nova subsidiaries. In 2023, the Quatro Group – which provided security, cleaning, and related services to Nova shopping centres – applied to liquidate 12 Nova entities after the group failed to settle outstanding payments. Quatro later withdrew the applications following a settlement agreement with Nova. However, Nova has yet to honour the agreed repayment. The City of Mbombela cut the electricity supply to two shopping centres for non-payment of their municipal bills in 2023. The City of Mbombela cut the electricity supply to two of Nova's shopping centres in Nelspruit due to the non-payment of its municipal account. This photo shows a notice on the door of the Bazaruto restaurant in Courtside, which had to close its doors. Image: Lowvelder The most notable failure by Nova to pay its debts involves the bridging finance group Beneficio. This case also saw numerous legal challenges from Nova. The case dates back to the late 2010s when Nova borrowed money from Beneficio at an astronomical interest rate of 1% per week as commercial banks refused to lend money to Nova. Nova defaulted on repayments in 2020, prompting Beneficio to sue for about R60 million. However, as in the current BLS case, Nova counter-sued, claiming the interest rate was usurious. However, the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal have dismissed all of Nova's applications. Nova has now approached the Constitutional Court, which means the legal process has been dragged out for more than five years. ALSO READ: Liduidators sue Highveld Syndication BRP and Nova chair for R110m Nova's financial position It is perhaps not surprising that Nova is facing liquidation applications. Its most recent AFS revealed a factually insolvent company. The liabilities exceeded its assets by R90 million, while the short-term liabilities amounted to R323 million, which included R188 million due to creditors, R74 million to repay loans, and outstanding tax of R62 million. The company ended the year with accessible cash of R600 000 in its bank account. Nova chair Connie Myburgh (left) and Nova CEO Dominique Haese. Image: Moneyweb Nova's financial position has deteriorated significantly since 2022, when the CIPC forbade the company from selling more fixed assets. That came after Nova sold 19 of the 28 investment properties it was entrusted with (mostly shopping centres). According to Moneyweb's calculations, the total proceeds from these sales amounted to R636 million, of which only R176 million was returned to debenture holders. Since 2018 alone, Nova has generated R350 million from asset disposals – but has paid only R96 million to settle debentures. Nova ostensibly used the balance of around R460 million to fund operational expenses. ALSO READ: The dark underbelly of the business rescue industry Millions more for directors if Nova continues to trade The only winners in the Nova saga seem to be the executive directors. Myburgh and CEO Dominique Haese have collectively earned R100 million from the scheme's inception in 2012 to February last year, roughly R50 million each. Nova has always contended that its remuneration is market-related. Trustee response Jean-Pierre Tromp, the trustee of the Nova Debenture Trust who acts on behalf of debenture holders, said: 'As this is the second set of liquidation applications in two years, it echoes the concerns I raised with the CIPC as to whether the Nova Group is still a going concern.' He is also concerned that Nova may offer some of the property assets in the group as security as part of a settlement agreement, which would be to the detriment of debenture holders. Tromp added that the application wasn't surprising as Nova's latest AFS shows that debt levels have increased to a 'very worrisome level'. 'I have serious doubts as to whether the executive directors are managing the group of companies to the benefit of the debenture holders. I also question the role the independent directors are supposed to fulfil in an oversight function as per King IV [corporate governance code].' ALSO READ: NPA asks Hawks to reopen Sharemax investigation CIPC investigation into Nova's solvency has ground to a halt Nova's financial distress and failure to repay debenture holders led the CIPC to intervene in 2021, issuing directives for the company to prove it wasn't trading insolvently and later barring further asset sales. Nova appealed to the Companies Tribunal, where the matter remains unresolved. The CIPC broadened the scope of its investigation into Nova to include the role regulators, such as the South African Reserve Bank, played in the collapse of Sharemax and other failed property syndication schemes. This 'inter-regulatory' process has since stalled, and has consequently delayed action against Nova as its financial position worsens. Moneyweb queried the CIPC about Nova's 2024 financials before learning of Bright Light Solar's liquidation application. In response, Ndileka Cola of the CIPC stated that the 'Commission continues to monitor the financial performance and conduct of Nova PropGrow Group Holdings Ltd'. 'Enforcement action against the board is being actively considered based on the company's financial position, cash flows, and governance conduct.' Moneyweb asked the CIPC last week whether it was aware of the liquidation application, at which point Cola terminated communication. 'Subsequent to the response sent to you last week, please be informed that the CIPC will not be communicating on this matter until it has been concluded,' she wrote in a statement. ALSO READ: Jacques Pauw calls AfriForum 'outright stupid' on Modise, calls for Sharemax prosecution Harrison and White Concerns about Myburgh's involvement in the timing of liquidation proceedings have previously surfaced in other cases. During the 2010s, Myburgh served as a legal advisor to Harrison and White (H&W), a company placed in liquidation in 2017. A Section 417 inquiry into the events preceding the liquidation found that Myburgh had 'colluded with the company's directors and management' to delay an inevitable liquidation application by more than three-and-a-half years, giving time for the company's assets to be stripped. The Master of the High Court subsequently referred the Section 417 report to the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate possible fraudulent conduct by several individuals, including Myburgh. At the time, Myburgh denied wrongdoing and accused Moneyweb of unlawfully publishing the Section 417 report. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
Inflation unchanged in May at 2.8% as economists expected
While the inflation rate remained under the bottom band of the Reserve Bank's inflation target, it is not expected to stay there. The inflation rate remained unchanged in May at 2.8% as economists expected, but geopolitical risks could see it drift higher than expected in the months ahead. Statistics South Africa (Statistics SA) announced on Wednesday morning that the inflation rate remained the same as in April, with food prices being the only category that pushed inflation up in May by 0.2% compared to April. Jee-A van der Linde, senior economist at Oxford Economics Africa, says the outcome was in line with their expectations, and they continue to see a mild increase in price inflation heading into the second half of 2025. The main contributors to the inflation rate in May were housing and utilities, which increased by 4.5% and contributed 1.0 percentage point, food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased by 4.8% and contributed 0.9 percentage point and alcoholic beverages and tobacco, which increased by 4.3% and contributed 0.2 percentage point. Statistics SA noted that higher meat prices (+4.4%) were a key driver of prices, with the biggest monthly increase recorded for beef products. Van der Linde points out that South Africa is in the grip of a widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, which intensified in June and will have an impact on domestic food prices going forward. ALSO READ: Inflation steady in May but food prices still increased Fuel levy offset lower fuel prices in May, keeping inflation at 2.8% 'Elsewhere, the latest data shows that domestic fuel prices declined further in June, but this is likely to be offset by the simultaneous increase in general fuel levies this month. Mid-month fuel prices data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) indicates that petrol and diesel are likely to cost more in July after the latest upsurge in international oil prices.' He also notes that international oil prices rallied after Israel's strikes on Iran, with Brent Crude Oil prices briefly hitting $80.0 per barrel before settling around $74 per barrel. 'Due to the flare-up in tensions in the Middle East, we now forecast Brent Crude Oil prices to average $67.8 per barrel in 2025, slightly higher than our previous estimate of $67.3 per barrel. 'While oil supply remains unaffected, further escalation could see Iran close the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off around 20% of global supply and potentially driving prices to $120 per barrel. At that point, oil prices would be near the levels recorded when Russia invaded Ukraine and domestic fuel prices shot up to record levels.' However, Van der Linde says the latest inflation data does not alter their updated inflation outlook, and they still forecast inflation will average 3.4% in 2025 compared to 4.4% in 2024. 'Although headline inflation will drift higher throughout the second half of the year due to base effects, the overall outlook remains benign and unchanged from our earlier views, although several risks have emerged recently that could lead to prices increasing faster.' ALSO READ: What Israel–Iran conflict means for South African economy Risks to inflation outlook worsened over past few days Busisiwe Nkonki and Johannes (Matimba) Khosa, economists at the Nedbank Group Economic Unit, also expect inflation to drift upwards in the second half of the year, but still average a muted 3.5% in 2025. However, they say, risks to the inflation outlook have worsened in recent days as the rand weakened, and global oil prices jumped due to the conflict in the Middle East. 'Food prices will increase as the base continues to normalise. However, favourable crop prices resulting from good rainfall, as well as increased livestock slaughtering, will contain the upside. The biggest concern is the rand. 'While the domestic currency has been resilient in recent weeks, it remains vulnerable to unfavourable global economic and geopolitical developments. 'The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) will have to weigh the benign inflation outlook against the potential upside risks emanating from the highly volatile and uncertain global environment. At this stage, we still see room for the Sarb to cut further in July.'
