The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has released the findings of its investigation into the fraudulent sale of City of Ekurhuleni vacant land worth more than R58m.

An EWN report notes that the unit found that residential stands in the Villa Liza township were irregularly transferred from the municipality to private individuals.

The transfers were made without a council resolution, while the municipality did not receive any funds generated from the irregular sales.

The SIU released its report in Pretoria yesterday.

The SIU has found that 208 stands were fraudulently transferred to private hands between 2018 and 2022 without the approval of the city council.

One person, who has since died, is said to have acted as a so-called estate agent, facilitating the dubious sales. The SIU said a conveyancing firm, Moki Attorneys Incorporated, allegedly used forged clearance certificates and fabricated the power of attorney to facilitate the land transfers.

SIU head Leonard Lekgetho said the owners of the firm made a significant amount of money from the transactions.

‘Each stand was sold for R18 000, according to the Deeds Office. The municipal valuation ranged from R80 000 to R3.7m. The stands were later resold at an average of R250 000 per stand. Some stands have been developed by the new owners, but the municipality derives no revenue from those properties,’ said Lekgetho.

The SIU has recommended that the City of Ekurhuleni strengthen its systems for transferring land to private buyers.

Full EWN report