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Email ArticleAurora Empowerment Systems, the company that brought Pamodzi Gold's East Rand and Orkney operations to its knees, was liquidated on Tuesday morning, trade union Solidarity said.
Solidarity said the liquidation order - which was granted by the North Gauteng High Court after ratifying a R9 million liquidation application of Copper Eagle - paved the way for legal action against the directors for the Aurora disaster.
The first such claim is expected to come from the joint provisional liquidators of Pamodzi Gold, who are expected to hold the directors accountable for R1.7 million worth of losses at the mines.
Aurora took over management of the still operational mines in late 2009 but in the two years that they were under the company's management, the mines have been looted to the point where huge capital expenditure is necessary to restore the mines to operational level.
The four directors in the firing line are President Jacob Zuma's nephew Khulubuse Zuma; Nelson Mandela's grandson Zondwa Mandela; President Zuma's attorney Michael Hulley and Thulani Ngubani, Aurora's commercial director.
On Monday these directors and their related consultant witnesses were accused of derailing an inquiry into Aurora's dealings.
Having failed to produce documents to the commissioner of the inquiry - despite being required to do so in terms of the summonses - the directors were seen as purposely aiming to drag out the process.
"The joint provisional liquidators express their severe disappointment as to the way in which the directors of Aurora, and their consultants, have apparently disregarded the due process of law in, what can only be considered as, an attempt to delay the conclusion of the Master's investigation into this matter," the liquidators said.
They added that that they have reserved the rights of the insolvent estates in totality including the right to lay criminal charges against the witnesses.
"The liquidation order will hopefully result in the directors of Aurora Empowerment Systems being brought to book for their mismanagement and self-enrichment," said Solidarity deputy general secretary Gideon du Plessis.
One of Aurora Empowerment Systems' affiliates, Kaunda Global Mining Resources, trading as Aurora Gold East Rand and Aurora Gold Orkney, was placed under provisional liquidation due to a separate liquidation application of R1.3 million by another creditor, Nelesco.
This came after a liquidation application of R3.1 million brought by Solidarity in May this year.
The final liquidation of this affiliate, under which the contracts of service of all Aurora employees fell, is expected to be ratified on November 1.
Such a move might see Aurora's thousands of employees receive at least some of the salaries they are owed.
Mandela is listed as the sole director of Kaunda and is set to testify before the Master of the North Gauteng High Court regarding Pamodzi Gold's insolvency on that day.
Solidarity confirmed this week that it involved in urgent consultations with the newly appointed liquidators of Kaunda to ensure that a parallel insolvency enquiry is scheduled to determine what has become of the thousands of rand deducted from former Aurora employees' salaries.
"Mandela has to explain during the insolvency questioning, which is likely to follow on the liquidation order, to account for the thousands of rand deducted from thousands of former Aurora employees' salaries," said Du Plessis on Monday.
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