The missing founder and CEO of KleuterZone, Anthonie Bouga’s personal estate was provisionally sequestrated yesterday, meaning he can no longer access his SA bank accounts, reports Fin24.

The provisional sequestration order is the second blow in just 21 days against the early-education empire he founded in 2019.

Three weeks ago, KleuterZone was provisionally liquidated after Bougas failed to arrive in court to argue whether the company was solvent.

Before abruptly cutting contact with KleuterZone employees and leaving SA in late February – presumably for Thailand – Bougas had presented himself as the head of a growing early education group built on Christian values. 

Now, with the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ruling against both him and his business, Bougas' education empire is in tatters. 

He again failed to appear in court yesterday to contest the sequestration application, meaning the judge had little hesitation in granting the order.

The sequestration order and last month's liquidation order are both provisional, and Bougas could, in theory, still oppose them at a later date.

The attorneys acting for the provisional liquidators say they have been unable to track down Bougas since he left SA.

In their application for sequestration lodged with the court last month, KleuterZone's joint provisional liquidators, Rikus Hartman and Susan Lapoorta, said Bougas had used company funds for gambling, flights, medication, property deals, and buying cars for family members.

They say he spent about R10m in company funds on gambling at local casinos.

Bank records show that he would often make multiple transfers, each worth hundreds of thousands of rands, to a gambling app in a single day.

The return date for the final sequestration is set for 3 June 2025.

Full Fin24 report