{"id":15863,"date":"2026-01-09T07:35:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=15863"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:12:25","slug":"siu-freezes-late-actor-presley-chweneyagaes-home-linked-to-nlc-grant-misuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/siu-freezes-late-actor-presley-chweneyagaes-home-linked-to-nlc-grant-misuse","title":{"rendered":"SIU freezes late actor Presley Chweneyagae&#8217;s home linked to NLC grant misuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The case connects to a larger SIU investigation into NLC corruption, authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa.- The <strong>Special Investigating Unit (SIU)<\/strong> has frozen a residential property in <strong>Hesteapark, Pretoria<\/strong>, linked to the late South African actor <strong>Presley Chweneyagae<\/strong>. According to officials, the house was purchased with funds from a National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant intended for community projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The property was bought for <strong>R889,000<\/strong> (\u20ac44,450) through <strong>Domestic Baboon (Pty) Ltd<\/strong>, a company where Chweneyagae served as the sole director. Investigators allege the money came from a <strong>R15m<\/strong> (\u20ac750,000) NLC grant awarded to the <strong>Southern African Youth Movement (SAYM)<\/strong>, which then channelled funds to the <strong>Presley Chweneyagae Foundation<\/strong> for an anti-drug musical called Taking Back the Future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The production was planned to tour three provinces but only ran for five nights at a small venue in the Free State, raising questions about the use of the grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The freeze order was issued by the Special Tribunal on <strong>December 18 2025<\/strong>. SIU spokesperson <strong>Kaizer Kganyago<\/strong> explained the action: &#8220;The order prohibits any sale, transfer, lease, encumbrance or disposal of the home in Pretoria, Gauteng, pending the finalisation of civil proceedings to be instituted by the SIU within 60 court days.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SIU must file details of the proceedings by early <strong>March 2026<\/strong>, and if evidence of criminal activity emerges, it could be referred to the <strong>National Prosecuting Authority<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case connects to a larger SIU investigation into NLC corruption, authorised by <strong>President Cyril Ramaphosa<\/strong> in <strong>2020<\/strong>. SAYM, led by Executive Director <strong>Alfred Sigudla<\/strong>, received more than <strong>R67.5m <\/strong>(\u20ac3,375,000) in grants for projects including an old-age home and a drug rehabilitation centre, neither of which is operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sigudla&#8217;s own home was frozen earlier in 2025. Chweneyagae&#8217;s Tsotsi co-star <strong>Terry Pheto<\/strong> faced similar scrutiny when her <strong>Bryanston<\/strong> house, bought with a questionable NLC grant, was frozen and sold for <strong>R3.9m<\/strong> (\u20ac195,000) in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other named parties include former NLC Chief Operating Officer <strong>Phillemon Letwaba<\/strong>, who resigned in 2022; <strong>Ironbridge Travel and Events<\/strong>, directed by Letwaba&#8217;s wife <strong>Rebotile Malomane<\/strong>; Letwaba&#8217;s cousin <strong>Karabo Sithole<\/strong>; and <strong>Meshack Makhubela<\/strong>, Director of VNMM Consulting Engineers and son-in-law of former NLC chairperson <strong>Alfred Nevhutanda<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/FREE_219009999_PH_9_YWTWRVBIWOOJ-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/nlc-whistleblowers-slam-degrading-reparations-offer'>NLC whistleblowers slam &#8216;degrading&#8217; reparations offer<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The case connects to a larger SIU investigation into NLC corruption, authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":11148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in South Africa has frozen a property linked to actor Presley Chweneyagae, alleging it was purchased with misused National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant funds intended for community projects. This action is part of a broader SIU investigation into NLC corruption, highlighting significant governance failures and financial misconduct within the national lottery framework. Civil proceedings are pending, with potential criminal referrals.","focusai_entities":"Special Investigating Unit, National Lotteries Commission, Presley Chweneyagae, Domestic Baboon (Pty) Ltd, Southern African Youth Movement, Presley Chweneyagae Foundation, Cyril Ramaphosa, Alfred Sigudla, Terry Pheto, Phillemon Letwaba, Ironbridge Travel and Events, Rebotile Malomane, Karabo Sithole, Meshack Makhubela, VNMM Consulting Engineers, Alfred Nevhutanda, National Prosecuting Authority","focusai_location":"South Africa, Hesteapark, Pretoria, Gauteng, Free State, Bryanston","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"NLC Governance Enhancements?","query":"What specific enhancements to the NLC's governance frameworks and internal audit protocols are being implemented to mitigate future grant fund misappropriation risks?"},{"label":"SIU Proceedings Outlook?","query":"Beyond asset freezes, what are the projected timelines and potential outcomes for the civil proceedings and any subsequent criminal referrals by the National Prosecuting Authority?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60011],"tags":[60325,60728,60665],"class_list":["post-15863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-africa","tag-corruption","tag-nlc","tag-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15863"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15874,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15863\/revisions\/15874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}