Liquidators Given The Boot After 11 Years Of ‘Reckless Neglect'

Once-celebrated Lenasia businesswoman Dolly Naidoo rises from the ashes to face off with lenders, recklessly languid liquidators – and the mighty Asset Forfeiture Unit

- Justin Brown

ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE COMPANY that owns the Sheffield Plaza shopping centre in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, was put into liquidation, the liquidators had still not filed a report of their administration with the Master of the High Court. They also failed to file a liquidation and distribution account, which by regulation they should have done within six months of their appointment.

In all that time the two liquidators of the company, Yamani Properties 1015 (Pty) Ltd, missed numerous deadlines to file the account – and the Master’s office had not inquired as to why, nor reprimanded them for their non-compliance.

In the meantime, a prospective buyer, Pannicos Protopapas (better known as Panico Protopapa) has been left in possession of the shopping centre without having paid anything for it, for almost ten years. Nor has he paid any rent for over eight years, despite collecting monthly rentals from all the tenants – and none of it has been accounted for to the liquidators.

Also implicated in this extraordinary legal fiasco is Business Partners, the entity founded decades ago by the late Dr Anton Rupert and his son Johann to fund small to medium businesses, as well as the state’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.

All of them claim to be innocent of any wrongdoing.

In February this year the two financially devastated majority shareholders of Yamani Properties, sisters Dolly Naidoo and Arthilutchmee Chetty eventually brought an application to court for the dismissal of the two Pretoria based liquidators, Stephen Anticevich and Rina Stroh (see noses49;101&112), who were appointed provisional liquidators in 2008 – an appointment that was made final only in 2012.