Protector probes Arlington claims

The Arlington Race Course in Port Elizabeth is the focus of an investigation by the public protector following allegations of “thievery and smash-and-grabs”.

Eastern Cape businesswoman Phindi Kema is the main complainant in a long-standing legal brawl with the owners of the racecourse, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure – which Kema has accused of employing dubious business practices.

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s spokesman, Oupa Segwale, said allegations of maladministration and improper conduct by the owners were being investigated.

Segwale said the probe involved the transfer and ownership of the Arlington Race Course to Phumelela Gaming, of which disgraced former Steinhoff chief executive Markus Jooste is a major shareholder.

Steinhoff made headlines recently when years of alleged accounting irregularities at the company were exposed, causing the share price to plummet more than 90%, wiping out almost $12-billion (R153-billion) of value. Jooste resigned shortly after the news emerged.

Though the public protector investigation would include Jooste, he was not necessarily the target, Segwale said.

The last race was run at Arlington on December 6 2013.

Kema and Phumelela Gaming have been at loggerheads since 2013, when she questioned how the company had been granted exclusive licensing rights to manage horse racing in Gauteng, allegedly without a transparent, public or parliamentary process.

Kema is one of only a few women in the male-dominated horseracing industry, while Phumelela, a JSE-listed entity, is one of the biggest players, operating in seven provinces.

In its response to Kema’s allegations, Phumelela Gaming said the businesswoman had a history of instituting meritless complaints and litigation against the company.

“This includes a matter in which Ms Kema appealed against a finding of the Competition Tribunal, without success, to the Competition Appeal Court and the Constitutional Court,” it said.

“Both of these courts granted cost orders against Ms Kema.

“Ms Kema’s original complaint, which was made in 2013, was that in 1997 the MEC in Gauteng transferred the Arlington Race Course in Port Elizabeth to Phumelela without following due process.

“The obvious and immediate question must certainly be: ‘How likely is it that the Gauteng government owned a racecourse in Port Elizabeth?’

“The allegation is hilarious, to put it mildly.

“Phumelela has substantiated to the public protector that Arlington has not been owned by the South African government or by any public authority since at least 1815.

“Phumelela has acquired its racecourses from racing clubs, which belonged to their members.

“It did not buy any racecourse from the government,” it said.

Kema said she was not fazed by the response. “Trivialising the matter and discrediting the opponent is the oldest trick in the book.

“This is simple, their thievery and smash-and-grab are going to come out at the public protector’s horseracing public hearing due to take place in the coming weeks and, quite frankly, I don’t think [the public protector’s office] would have dignified my complaint with [a] letter and poured resources for six years into this investigation if this matter was a joke,” she said.

“The fact is, it is not what I say but what it is.”

Segwale said dates of the public hearings were still being finalised.