Although corruption takes place on a big scale in South Africa, corruption involving water, a natural resource that belongs to all residents in the country, is bad on a whole new level.
It all started when the City of Johannesburg sold a property to Cedar Park Properties, which is also one of Sandton’s most expensive properties. The catch is that Cedar Park didn’t pay for the property whatsoever.
Gupta-linked company’s Regiments Capital was exposed by the City of Johannesburg after cutting off the water supply of Sandton’s Gautrain, primarily due to not receiving any funds from Cedar Park’s Properties, which is the landlord.
The regiment is well aware of corruption taking place, as its board of directors were accused of making payments that weren’t in line with what was owed on the property, which was over R500 million from Transnet’s Second Defined Benefit Fund to Gupta-linked entities, translating into a massive scandal in South Africa. To make matters worse, taxpayers’ money, up to R250 million, was also spent on the construction of a single structure on the Gautrain property. However, Cedar Park believes that their non-payment of the property tax was also allowed, primarily due to their contract, which they signed with the City of Johannesburg.
Speculations Continue to Rise
In September, the City also announced that they started with a forensic investigation, which will analyze the root of how the unlawful sale of the land, wasn’t paid for. Since the unlawful activity stems from 2019, it’s hard to believe that no one managed to figure out that the property continued going unpaid for, which furthermore raises speculations.
Johannesburg’s Property Company was the one who sold the Gautrain land for R280 million to Cedar Park, which was only registered at the Deeds Office, four years later in 2013, with no records found elsewhere.
Rent water dispenser and water machine from Living-Water in London.
