Durban - Being dragged to court over a R21-million debt owed to a Durban businessman did not stop the larger-than-life Mpisane family from throwing a lavish 16th birthday bash for their son, Andile, who was given a R2m Mercedes-Benz G wagon as a present.
S’bu and Shauwn Mpisane have sold two of their farms outside Pietermaritzburg and have pledged six luxury vehicles to Ismail Desai, of Blitzvinnig Trading, in lieu of their outstanding debt for several trucks he has sold to them since 2013.
Independent Media has seen a copy of the settlement agreement.
The Mpisanes, who are known for their luxury vehicles and lavish lifestyle, pledged in the settlement that they would hand over their two Dodge Ram vehicles, a McLaren MP5-12C, a BMW M4, a Mercedes-Benz Maybach and an Aston Martin Rapide.
They also sold two of their farms worth R8.5-million each to Desai’s company.
Despite the family’s so-called financial woes, bottles of bubbly flowed freely at Andile’s birthday party, at which the 16-year-old took to the stage with the “Queen of Gqom” Babes Wodumo and award-winning rapper Nasty C – Durban-born entertainers who are making waves in the music industry.
The power couple spoilt Andile and his young guests with designer drinks, a fancy menu, a sushi bar, a Louis Vuitton-inspired cake and topped the night by presenting the teenager with a spanking new Mercedez-Benz AMG G63 SUV, priced at R2.3m.
The event took place at the couple’s La Lucia home. Andile’s sister, Sbahle, beamed the events of the party on Instagram.
In footage reminiscent of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16, the 16-year-old was handed the keys of the car by his father before jumping into the driver's seat and giving it a rev to the cheers of his peers, who showered each other with bubbly in celebration.
Mother Shauwn Mpisane, too, was in the party mood, dancing the night away with friends.
The Mpisanes have faced a barrage of applications from the SA Revenue Service in recent months, claims that they owed more than R100m, including preservation order applications and liquidation and sequestration applications.
The SA Revenue Service also declared them “factually insolvent” in the application to have their estates sequestrated in November last year.
In court this week, Blizvinnig Trading outlined it had since 2013 supplied various allied services, trucks, trailers and vehicles to the value of R16.8m to Inyanga Trading and Zikhulise Auto Restorers, two companies owned by the Mpisanes.
Curators who were appointed to seize their assets launched an urgent application on Monday to inspect the six vehicles pledged to Blitzvinnig.
When contacted for comment, Shauwn Mpisane’s personal assis- tant said the couple were unavailable for comment because they were in Polokwane watching their football club, Royal Eagles, in a match.
They did not respond to emails sent to them for comment.
Desai’s attorney, Ahmed Asmal, declined to comment.
Sunday Tribune