million windfall that went straight into her trust’s account. Thanks to
the FDC’s willingness to sell the property to the MMAT Trust and
Shell’s concomitant involvement, Magashule’s daughter became a
millionaire with the stroke of a pen.
It was a strange deal, but Shell maintained that it made good business
sense. The upfront rental worked out to about R 64 000 a month,
which, they told me, was ‘below market value’. Shell intended to
appoint a new franchisee to operate the petrol station, but it first had to
upgrade the site. The new landlady, Thoko Malembe, would not have
to fork out a cent for these upgrades. According to the notarial lease
agreement, Shell would be responsible for these expenses. The fuel
giant told me it had submitted building plans to the local municipal
council and was awaiting approval. ‘Once the site is up and running it
will create jobs in the area, potentially more jobs than previously, as we
intend to put in a full shop offer that was not at the site,’ one of Shell’s
executives promised in January 2018. ‘This will employ more cashiers,
merchandisers, bakery staff, back office [staff] etc.’
More than two years after the property was effectively gifted to the
premier’s daughter, the site remains abandoned. A few days after the
ANC’s 2019 election manifesto launch in Durban, I checked in with
one of the previous petrol attendants who had lost his job. ‘There is
still nothing happening there, no building or upgrades,’ he told me.
‘Ace destroyed our lives.’
Thoko is the only winner to have emerged from the transaction. Even
the FDC has suffered a financial loss. The SOE had held an 18 per cent
share in the former operator’s business, which earned it a slice of the
petrol station’s profits. It had also received a monthly rental fee of
about R 30 000 before the business was closed down. After the deal
nora
(Nora)
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