Five companies linked to Shoprite director and former Telkom CEO paid R85,000 admission-of-guilt fine to SARS

Five of the companies directed by Sipho Maseko, a director at Shoprite and former CEO of Telkom, were charged for failing to submit tax returns to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

The companies have paid admission-of-guilt fines totalling R85,000. Maseko himself was not convicted of any offence.

This was revealed by Shoprite in a notice posted to shareholders on Friday, 23 October.

Since Maseko is an independent non-executive director of Shoprite, he had to update the integrity information in his director’s declaration for the company.

This is required by paragraph 6.75 of the JSE Listings Requirements, which states that directors must notify their company and the bourse of any changes to their integrity information.

Any changes must be announced by the company within one business day after receipt of the integrity information.

KAP and Motus, other JSE-listed companies at which Maseko is a director, have issued statements similar to Shoprite’s.

In its notice, Shoprite explained that Maseko is a director of five South African dormant and non-trading investment companies.

It said these were charged for failing to submit tax returns to SARS under the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. 

“By agreement with the state advocate, the companies paid admission of guilt fines totalling R85,000,” Shoprite said. 

“No trial took place, no court made any finding on the facts, and Sipho himself was not convicted of any offence.”

The five companies charged include One Fountain Properties, One Fountain Industries, One Fountain Capital, Afrifund Advisory Services, and Afrifund Investments.

The charges relate to the failure to submit Pay As You Earn, value-added tax, and corporate income tax returns over several years.

The case against these companies forms part of Project Honey Badger, an initiative involving the National Prosecuting Authority, SARS, and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.

Maseko has been a director at Shoprite since June 2023. He served as the CEO of Telkom for nine years, from 2013 to 2021.

Prior to his Telkom tenure, Maseko held the CEO role at BP Southern Africa from 2008 to 2012.