FORMER president Jacob Zuma’s ex-son-in-law Lonwabo Sambudla and his companies are in financial difficulty and trying to sell three luxury vehicles – a Bentley, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce – belonging to a Sharia law financial services company.
The revelation was made this week by Anglowealth Shariah, which is fighting for three luxury vehicles that were leased to Sambudla for between R160 000 and R455 000 a month through two of his companies, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions.
Sambudla, formerly the chief executive of the ANC Youth League’s now dissolved Lembede Investment Holdings, was married to Zuma’s daughter Dudu.
The vehicles are a 2022 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge, which was leased for monthly instalments of R455 286.94, a 2021 Bentley Flying Spur, which set the businessman back R310 514.38, and a 2022 Ferrari 812 GTS, for which he paid R159 746.20 a month.
The cars are priced between R5 million and more than R10m in the country.
Anglowealth Shariah approached the high court on an urgent basis demanding that Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions’ lawyers disclose the precise current whereabouts of the three vehicles and to restore them to its possession with their keys.
Sambudla and his companies defaulted in their obligations, and in December last year a letter of demand was sent to them, with Anglowealth Shariah demanding that they pay arrears of over R3.24m, which were instalments for the five months – August, September, October, November and December 2023.
However, Judge Motsamai Makume dismissed Anglowealth Shariah’s urgent application, finding that there was no imminent threat that the three vehicles may be destroyed, lost, hidden or as the company speculated that Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions were planning to sell and sprint them out of the country.
Anglowealth Shariah has applied for leave to appeal Judge Makume’s ruling.
The company stated that Judge Makume erred in the findings of fact and/or conclusions of law when he found that there was no imminent threat to the vehicles.
”The respondents (Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions) are in financial difficulties, and have been trying to dispose of the applicant’s (Anglowealth Shariah’s) vehicles. Moreover, the vehicles continue to be used and as such, are depreciating assets,” the company explained.
In addition, according to Anglowealth Shariah, the judge also erred in finding that the cover by risk insurance was sufficient.
”There are numerous instances falling within exclusions and in instances such as drunken driving, non compliance with traffic legislation etc, where the risk would not be covered,” explained Anglowealth Shariah.
Anglowealth Shariah, which is in Umhlanga, Durban, describes itself as one of the country’s leading advisory and pioneering Shariah law-based companies, founded in 2013.
It says it is a unique innovative company that does not exist only to make a profit but is driven by a commitment to serve the broader interests of communities at large.
In its application for leave to appeal, Anglowealth Shariah argues that the judge ought to have found that it was common cause that Sambudla and his companies were in arrears by at least R2.7m, which they paid a week after its application was issued, and a further amount of about R542 000, which they paid on January 31, two weeks after the application was issued.
According to Anglowealth Shariah, the amounts were paid within two and three weeks, respectively, post cancellation and that Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions were still over R1.42m in arrears.
Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions took possession of the three vehicles in October 2022 and they are still with them.
Anglowealth Shariah explained that Sambudla bound himself as surety and co-principal debtor in solidum (as a whole) with IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions in respect of their obligations to it arising from the three rental agreements.
The company has also launched a separate application to confirm cancellation of the agreements and payment of amounts due.
”We have applied for a date for the hearing of part B and will advise you as soon as we are in receipt of a hearing date which we assume will be sometime in May 2024,” Anglowealth Shariah’s lawyers Hirschowitz Flionis Attorneys said this week.
In their response before the high court, Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions stated that Anglowealth Shariah knew that they had been in arrears since August last year and yet only decided on this urgent application five months later.
In addition, Sambudla and his companies said Anglowealth Shariah has always known where the motor vehicles are as they have in their possession reports of the tracker system, and that all the motor vehicles have been insured with Discovery and its interests noted on such policies, which means there is no risk.
Anglowealth Shariah also confirmed having the tracking reports in connection with the whereabouts of the vehicles.
Sambudla, IMS Call Solutions and Mobi Systems Solutions also disputed the R3.24m arrears demanded by Anglowealth Shariah but paid a certain amount in January this year and argued that there was no basis to unilaterally cancel the agreement.
”It is our understanding that steps have been taken to make payment of the amounts demanded on January 19, 2024 as undertaken and within 14 days of receipt of demand or breach letter despite such amounts being disputed, therefore any cancellation of the agreement is therefore defective and invalid and any such steps taken to assert your clients right in this regard is premature and not aligned with the parties’ bona fide (genuine) attempts to find resolution,” Sambudla and his companies told Anglowealth Shariah.