Edwin Letopa, the sole director of the scandal-plagued NTC Global Trade Fund, has been ordered to pay R500 000 into an attorney’s trust account as security for ‘wasted costs’ after a hearing into the firm’s final liquidation was postponed at the last minute.

As previously reported, the company was at the centre of a dispute that engulfed insolvency attorney Bouwer van Niekerk before his murder last year.

Van Niekerk was, at the time, acting for NTC’s business rescue practitioner in an increasingly bitter fight with Letopa. 

News24 previously reported that Van Niekerk was warned days before his death to walk away from the matter.

News24 reports that the company was placed into provisional liquidation just days after his murder. The long-awaited hearing into its final winding-up was set to be heard over two days in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria).

However, Letopa’s new legal team filed papers at the last minute, arguing for a postponement.

Letopa has now been stuck with the costs in his personal capacity. The R500 000 will be held in trust as security for the wasted costs incurred due to the postponement.

Appearing before Judge Anthony Millar on Wednesday, Letopa’s new counsel acknowledged that he was still unfamiliar with the matter.

News24 notes that Letopa’s previous counsel stepped down last month.

‘We apologise for the flurry of documents being filed so late,’ said Advocate Mervyn Rip. He said he only ‘came into the matter on Monday morning’ and that many of the documents which had been filed were new to him.

The R500 000 order states that if Letopa does not keep his side of the bargain by making payment into the attorney’s trust account, he will not be able to oppose the winding-up of the company.

He must settle the account by 7 August 2026.

In the meantime, the final liquidation has been postponed to 17 September 2026.

Full News24 report