The Youth Leader, His Ex-wife and the Frozen Lottery Money

SAYM executive director Alfred Sigudhla posted photos of his opulent lifestyle on Facebook before closing his account.

The proceeds from the sale of a property on a luxury golf estate, bought with lottery grant funds, have been frozen by the Special Tribunal.

The property on the upmarket Copperleaf Golf Estate was part of a divorce settlement between lottery grant beneficiary Alfred Sigudhla and his former wife, Tintswalo Patience Chauke.

A preservation order granted to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) allows it to freeze R2.7-million, including accrued interest, from the sale of the property.

The property purchased for about R800,000 in 2018, using funds meant for community development, was co-owned by Sigudla and Chauke, SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said.

“It was subsequently transferred to Chauke as part of their divorce settlement. Further investigations have revealed that the proceeds from the sale of this property, amounting to R2,550,000, currently reside in Chauke’s bank account,” said Kganyago.

In terms of the tribunal’s order, granted on 3 December but only made public on Wednesday, ABSA bank was directed to immediately freeze R2,777,866 in Chauke’s account.

Sigudhla is the executive director of the Southern African Youth Movement, which received more than R67.5-million in lottery funding. This included grants for an old-age home, a drug rehabilitation centre, and an anti-drug-themed musical.

Neither the old age home nor the rehab are operational, and the musical staged only a handful of performances.

In June this year, Sigudhla’s home on the Silverstream gated estate in Centurion, Pretoria, was frozen after the Tribunal was told that it was bought using money siphoned from lottery grants.

According to the SIU, money allocated for good causes was laundered through “a network of non-profit companies and private entities” before being paid to a transferring attorney.

Kganyago said that when the preservation order was granted over the Silverstream home, the SIU was unaware of the Copperleaf property.

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