From investing millions of rand into a business venture to scraping the bottom of the barrel for food to eat, a businesswoman has told of her fall from grace after she was rendered penniless and her exclusive Port Elizabeth wedding estate sold at a fraction of its worth.

Accusing the bank of reckless lending, the insolvent former owner of La Cigale Exclusive Country Estate and Wedding, Conference & Function Venue in Theescombe, Chantal Verstraeten, said the sequestration process had nearly killed her...