A luxury lodge belonging to former Rise FM radio presenter, Carol Zenzile Sanderson, is set to go on auction on Tuesday next week.
Casambo Exclusive Guest Lodge, which was previously decorated with various industry awards for its exquisite beauty, is currently in a dilapidating state and will be auctioned next week.
The auction will take place online on Asset Auctions’ website following an instruction from the National Prosecuting Authority.
Preservation order
In 2023, the NPA’s asset forfeiture unit (AFU) and the special investigating unit (SIU) announced that they acquired a preservation order to seize numerous properties and vehicles belonging to individuals and companies implicated in corruption at Eskom’s Kusile power station.
At the time, the units seized a Subaru Impreza, two portions of Casambo Exclusive Guest Lodge, and a house in White River, outside Mbombela in Mpumalanga.
All the properties belonged to Sanderson. The lodge is set to be auctioned from Tuesday to Thursday.
“The lodge consists of two portions with multiple buildings, wood cabins, entertainment area, decks and pool,” Asset Auctions said on their website.
The website also mentioned that “the lodge has been vandalised and requires a complete refit”.
Guesthouse of the Year
In its heyday, Casambo Exclusive Guest Lodge was awarded the Tsogo Sun Book a Guesthouse‘s Guesthouse of the Year honour in 2015.
It is located close to the Kruger National Park and has positioned itself as a preferred destination for tourists and holidaymakers
In a statement in 2023, the SIU said that, in collaboration with the AFU, it had secured a preservation order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act in relation to corruption at Kusile power station.
“The order, dated February 16 2023, authorises the AFU and SIU permission to preserve two portions of a farm that is used as a lodge, a commercial property in Mbombela, a house in an estate, five cars, a golf cart, and a quad bike which are the proceeds of unlawful activities at Eskom’s Kusile power station, following allegations of serious maladministration and corruption,” said the SIU last year.
Other assets that are under preservation include a house in Stonehenge, a Lotus Europa, a VW Polo Vivo, a Hilux 2.5D-4D 4X4, a Yamaha golf cart, and a Yamaha Raptor 90 quadbike.
Eskom lost R400-million
The SIU said it had obtained the preservation order following an investigation and findings that implicate members of Tamukelo Business Enterprises, an Eskom vendor, which provided water trucking services to the Kusile project site from June 2009 to November 2020.
The investigation found that the enterprise made various payments to the benefit of various current and former Eskom officials.
“The preliminary investigations by the SIU revealed that Eskom, in respect of this case, lost almost R400-million from an unlawful tender that was granted to the vendor,” the SIU said.
