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Tuwani Matthews Mulaudzi initially claimed R5billion, but the actuary report by Manala Actuaries, which will be used in court, has quantified his loss at a much higher figure.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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For acting recklessly in charging and prosecuting a businessman a decade ago, prosecutors and the police have put an R184 billion burden on state coffers.

This is according to an actuary report, which Tuwani Matthews Mulaudzi commissioned as he prepares to sue the state for damages following his acquittal in June 2022 after a seven-year long bruising trial that cost him lucrative future business deals and future income.

Mulaudzi was arrested in 2013 and charged with fraud, theft, money laundering and racketeering. He was a prosperous entrepreneur, at a peak of his career, with interest in diverse businesses.

The charges emanated from a dispute with Old Mutual over a R48 million investment.

WATCH: How the state persecuted and ruined an innocent entrepreneur's life

In 2014, Old Mutual accused him of having ceded the investment to Nedbank but demanded that it be paid to him when it matured. He had initially taken a R33 million investment frontiers policy with Fairbairn Capital, underwritten by Old Mutual.

The Assets Forfeiture Unit (AFU) froze all his assets on the basis that Mulaudzi had ceded the policy to Nedbank in return for R37.6 million. The AFU said that Mulaudzi tried to buy back the policy from Nedbank in 2012, but the bank refused. He then used the same policy to get an overdraft facility at Absa.

When the policy matured in June 2014, the AFU claimed, Mulaudzi contacted Old Mutual to request that the full value of the investment, which was R48 million, be paid to him. The money was deposited into Mulaudzi’s Absa account on 6 June 2014 when the cession of the policy to Nedbank had not been effected on Old Mutual’s system.

However, the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court cleared Mulaudzi of all the charges. He is now trying to claim back all that he lost – both in the past and in the future – as a result of the fictitious charges and malicious prosecution.

Mulaudzi initially claimed R5billion, but the actuary report by Manala Actuaries, which will be used in court, has quantified his loss at a much higher figure.

“As the old adage goes,” said Mulaudzi, “every dog has its day.”

“And, as I always say, no amount of money will buy or bring back the reputational damage, pain and suffering caused by these evil people in the lives of everyone around me and in my life.”

The report indicates that Mulaudzi’s company, Luvhomba Group, lost profits in the region of R120.3 million from its electronics subsidiary.

He also lost:

·      A stake valued at R130 million in a coal mine;

·      A 40% stake worth R116.5 billion in an e-commerce business with a Chinese company;

·      A R100 million investment in a mining company;

·      Luvhomba assets worth R3.2 billion;

·      R61 million in income from a contract with the Department of Education to supply and deliver tablets to schools;

·      Loss of R116.6 million in salary income and R84.2 billion in dividends.

This is not all Mulaudzi will claim. He will still claim for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution, reputational damage, humiliation, emotional suffering of his family, stress and other discomforts.