At least three companies – owed millions by Arthur Kaplan and NWJ jewellers – have separately applied to the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) for the liquidation of holding company Luxe Holdings, with one describing it as ‘hopeless at paying debts’.

A Business Day report says Luxe owes the three firms, which include Richline SA, a jewellery manufacturer owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, at least R15m.

The creditors have all detailed how repeated promises to repay the debt had come to nothing.

Directors of Aurora Empowerment Systems, a company involved in the looting and mismanagement of the Pamodzi Grootvlei gold mine between 2009 and 2011, had taken over Luxe Holdings.

Among the individuals from Aurora working for Luxe are consultants Faizel Bhana and Bashir Moosa, attorney Ahmed Amod and former Aurora directors Tony Chammas and Thulani Ngubane.

Bhana and Ngubane were found by a court in 2015 to have traded ‘recklessly’ after taking over the Pamodzi gold mine with insufficient financial resources to run it.

Both divisions of Luxe, the jewellery chain stores Arthur Kaplan and NWJ, are already in liquidation for non-payment of debts.

Puzzlingly, the liquidator of the two divisions, Laila Motala, is said to be the daughter of the disgraced Enver Motala, who was deeply involved in the Aurora Pamodzi gold mine liquidation matter.

As the liquidator of the Pamodzi mine, Enver Motala chose the inexperienced and new Aurora firm to take over its management.

Motala was subsequently struck off the liquidators’ panel after the Master of the Court became aware he had been convicted on 93 counts of fraud and one of theft.

Laila Motala would not be drawn on questions about working for the same individuals who were involved with her father, saying only that the current matter had ‘nothing to do’ with her father.

Full Business Day report