Parliament, Friday, 19 September 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development recently received a presentation from the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) on Ingonyama Holdings (IH).
The IH is the official investment and commercial vehicle of the Ingonyama Trust, which is the sole shareholder and was registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) on 29 November 2019.
Mr Sipho Ngwenya (former Chairperson of the ITB) and Mr Lucas Mkhwanazi (former ITB Chief Executive Officer) are the directors of the IH. The committee heard that the IH has failed to account to the shareholder since its formation. In addition, Mr Ngwenya and Mr Mkhwanazi are no longer members of the ITB and have refused to account to the ITB. Their insistence on being directors has obstructed legitimate shareholder governance and oversight.
The ITB lodged a complaint with the CIPC Fraud and Risk Unit. However, no progress has been reported and hence the ITB opened a case of fraud with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in February 2025. Since then, there has been no formal responses from SAPS.
The committee heard that the ITB awarded R41 million to IH as seed funding, and that this loan has not been returned to the ITB and nor has the IH accounted for the funds. The company continued to trade under the Ingonyama Trust’s name, and due to the negative exposure and lack of accountability, the ITB decided to sever ties with the IH. Moreover, the R41 million loan remains unresolved and recovery is unlikely. Therefore, the ITB requested the committee to summon the IH directors to account for the Ingonyama Trust funds.
The committee expressed its concern that the Department of Land Reform and Rural development has made no clear intervention to assist the ITB in the current litigation and IH matter. Neither the Minister nor the department have used their authority to bring in other state actors to deal with the matter.
The committee also noted that Mr Mkhwanazi resigned his post at the ITB to later assume a role in the IH as a director. Committee members questioned whether the ITB was aware of the plans to appoint him as a director of IH. The committee also noted that the IH appears to have gone rogue and the department has not responded.
The committee Chairperson, Mr Albert Mncwango, said: “The committee welcomed the recommendation from the ITB for the committee to consider initiating processes to subpoena the IH directors to appear before the committee and account for their actions. Further, the committee would explore the route of requesting the President to sign a proclamation for the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit to investigate the matter to deal with the issues. The fact that Mr Ngwenya could chair both the ITB and the IH created a conflict of interest and blurred the lines of accountability.”
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LAND REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, MR ALBERT MNCWANGO.
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Name: Sureshinee Govender (Ms)
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E-mail: sugovender@parliament.gov.za
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