Latest news with #MaraGlennie
News24
17 hours ago
- Business
- News24
Cabinet's travel splurge; UK blocks Malema: Today's top 7 stories in 7 minutes
News24 brings you the top 7 stories of the day. News24 brings you the top stories of the day, summarised into neat little packages. Read through quickly or listen to the articles via our customised text-to-speech feature. Hey, big spender! SA's travel-happy Cabinet racks up the travel bills - Despite strained public finances, Cabinet ministers' travel budgets remain unaffected. - ActionSA requested travel cost details from all 34 Cabinet members, including costs for support staff. - Responses showed varying travel habits among ministers, with some being big spenders and others more cautious. Charity 'icon' may have used donor money for beauty treatments, judge says - Tears Foundation founder Mara Glennie is accused of transferring R2 million in donor funds to her company, Fireworx Management Solutions, for personal expenses. - A court application revealed concerns about the financial management of the non-profit, leading a judge to dismiss the application and question the legitimacy of a supposed loan. - The judge has called on Glennie to explain why she shouldn't personally pay the court costs and directed regulators to investigate potential financial irregularities. UK declines Malema visa application due to his 'extremism' - Julius Malema has been denied a UK visa due to his support for Hamas and statements about 'cutting the throat of whiteness', deemed 'extremist' behaviour by the UK Home Office. - The Home Office cited Malema's past statements, including his intention to arm Hamas and his remarks about the potential for violence against white people, as reasons why his presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good. - Future visa applications are unlikely to succeed unless he provides compelling new evidence and changes his stance. Bidders Choice Group Bentley, Maybachs, and Hiluxes: MaMkhize's Royal AM cars go under the hammer - A fleet of 14 luxury cars linked to Shauwn Mkhize and Royal AM Football Club is being auctioned to settle a tax debt. - The auction includes a rare Mercedes-Benz S680 Maybach 'Edition 100' and a Bentley Continental GTC, among other vehicles. - Bids open on 27 June and close on 2 July, with a R50 000 registration fee required for interested bidders. THEGIFT777/Getty Images Kyalami owner plans R180m upgrade amid F1 bid - Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit plans a $10 million (R180 million) overhaul to meet FIA Grade 1 standards for a Formula 1 race. - The upgrades will include safety features and improved spectator amenities, potentially taking three months. - South Africa is competing with other African nations to host an F1 race and needs government support and sponsors to fund the bid. (Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius) Boks laud Proteas for showing fight at Lord's: 'That's all SA want to see,' says Rassie - Rassie Erasmus was inspired by the Proteas' ability to overcome criticism and pressure during their World Test Championship win. - Siya Kolisi praised Temba Bavuma's tenacity and leadership, highlighting the team effort and individual contributions to the Proteas' victory. - Kolisi emphasised the significance of the Proteas' win, noting the challenges they faced and the team's resilience in achieving the historic victory. Kayla Oaddams/WireImage US filmmaker Tyler Perry faces explosive lawsuit as actor alleges sexual assault - Actor Derek Dixon is suing Tyler Perry for $260 million, alleging sexual harassment and assault. - Dixon claims Perry created a 'coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic' after promising career advancement. - Perry's attorney denies the allegations, calling them fabricated claims of harassment and a shakedown attempt.
News24
a day ago
- Business
- News24
Charity ‘icon' may have used donor money for beauty treatments, judge says
Tears Foundation founder Mara Glennie transferred R2 million in donor funds to her own company, Fireworx Management Solutions. Tears Foundation is a non-profit organisation aimed at combating gender-based violence. Bank statements show how the money was used for Glennie's 'life of relative luxury', including restaurant and beauty salon visits. Funding at the Tears Foundation, a non-profit organisation aimed at combating gender-based violence, has come under the spotlight in a court application implicating its founder in irregular expenditure of R2 million. (This Tears Foundation is not related to the animal rescue foundation with a similar name.) In the application, which came before Gauteng High Court Judge Denise Fisher, Tears sought an order to compel its auditors to amend an audit report that flagged the payment by the foundation to another company, Fireworx Management Solution. Fireworx is owned by Tears founder Mara Glennie, GroundUp reports. But Judge Fisher has dismissed the application and directed Glennie to file an affidavit explaining why she should not be ordered to pay the court costs on a punitive scale and at the highest possible rate out of her own pocket. The Tears Foundation was founded by Glennie, herself a survivor of violence, in 2012, along with her co–director, Michael Johnson. The two are romantic partners. According to its website it operates a 24-hour crisis hotline. READ | ' Grossly dishonest' SA lawyer at centre of UK Christian charity looting investigation It is donor-funded and gets donations from Standard Bank, Avbob, Capitec, Bidvest Services and Toyota South Africa, among others. Between March and October 2024, it received more than R7 million in funding from these companies and it also received donations from the general public. The Tears Foundation was recently given the 'Best Social Organisation of the Year' award by an organisation called Women Icon. Fisher said before July 2023, Glennie had been employed by Tears but then began providing her services through Fireworx as a 'consultant'. Essentially it is her alter ego She said in May 2024, an accounts manager employed by Tears, Dirk Bornebusch, expressed concerns, writing to Glennie about how the foundation was being run financially. He listed seven items of concern, including that Glennie was putting her personal expenses through the Tears bank account. Judge Fisher said Glennie alleges that Bornebusch eventually notified donors of these irregularities and was attempting to 'sink Tears', because he was friends with another employee, Clair Thompson, who wanted to establish her own company and attract Tears' donors. Glennie obtained an interdict against Bornebusch, but major donors withdrew their regular funding. The donors then required that Tears provide an independent audited financial statement before funding would resume. This task was given to Burton van Staaden of VBS Chartered Accountants. He flagged a R2 million payment by Tears to Fireworx and reported it to the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) as a 'suspected irregularity'. Glennie and Johnson were unhappy. They alleged the 'loan' was to be used for the purchase of a property, a safe house for abused women, the 'Joy Cottage project'. They claimed the money was repaid to Tears, and Glennie and Johnson wanted the irregularity expunged. READ | Limpopo and North West lead in GBV helpline calls, TEARS Foundation study reveals Van Staaden refused to do so. He said he would go no further than state 'that the irregularity was no longer taking place'. He also said that Bornebusch had disclosed to him that other payments had been made to Groundwave, a company owned by Johnson, for 'consulting fees'. When Tears' urgent application came before Fisher, she raised concerns about the transaction and directed Glennie to file a further affidavit. Glennie's lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have the matter removed from Fisher. She then asked for a 'more complete picture' of the nature of the business of Fireworx and Groundwaves, noting that Van Staaden had raised concerns about common directorships and a potential for conflict of interest. Glennie said Groundwave, which provides products and services in the electrical engineering industry, had provided Tears with advice on technical matters and had sold it products. It had also provided administrative assistance, filling out grant applications, developing business plans, and conducting research. Glennie produced bank statements reflecting that Fireworx had three accounts and Tears six accounts. Fisher said the Fireworx account was opened in June 2023 and the R2 million 'alleged loan' was transferred as an 'investment deposit' a week later. Regular payments were then made 'as consultancy fees' by Tears to Fireworx. These were initially R100 000 but increased to R150 000 per month. Then, from July to October 2023, there were several 'large transactions' out of the Fireworx account, including R200 000, referenced as 'Summerhaze', which is Glennie's residence. In September, the statements showed a credit card facility had been linked to the account. These showed 50 transactions totalling R193 000. 'The credit card was used to pay the living expenses of Glennie. The merchants' references show purchases ranging from grocery stores, clothing shops, monthly beauty salon charges, pharmacy charges, restaurant charges and payments to hardware stores and to pet shops,' Fisher said. And the 'consultancy fees' paid by Tears to Fireworx amounted to about R1.8 million a year. Judge Fisher said based on the bank statements, Glennie lived a 'life of relative luxury' - and the only money in Fireworx account came from consultancy fees paid by Tears and the R2 million alleged loan from Tears. She also noted that the 'alleged loan' was interest free. Fireworx was earning interest on it, whilst Tears was not. Fisher said there was a clear conflict of interest, the consultancy fees seemed to be 'relatively high', and she had concerns that Glennie was attempting, in her application, to stop exposure of potential mismanagement and even misappropriation of the funds. The transfer of the R2 million occurred at a time when Glennie started providing her services as a consultant through Fireworx. 'There is no evidence of this alleged loan. Van Staaden requested the loan agreement, but was told it was lost. 'There is no evidence of the alleged negotiations relating to the property purchase. Not even one email is put up. This is notwithstanding that the negotiations were said to be with Standard Bank. This suggests that the Joy Cottage project is nothing more than a recent fabrication,' the judge said. She said the explanation regarding the R2 million 'was so implausible that it falls to be rejected out of hand'. 'The movement of funds back and forward into different accounts seems to me to be unbridled and inexplicable. 'The fact that the loan agreement was 'lost' and had to be refabricated is a further indication that the payment was not a loan but a misappropriation into the newly opened bank account of Fireworx.' She said the application was a 'cynical attempt' to avoid disclosure and transparency. Dismissing the application, Judge Fisher said that while a punitive cost order was warranted, it would be inappropriate for these costs to be paid out of donor funds and called on Glennie to show cause why she should not personally pay out of her own pocket. She also directed the IRBA to notify any appropriate regulator, including the South African Revenue Services, of the reported irregularity.
