Rupert, one of South Africa’s richest people, owns the prestigious Leopard Creek golf estate, situated along the Crocodile River near the Kruger National Park in Malalane.
Leopard Creek Share Block, which owns the golf course and estate, has approached the Valuation Appeal Board to oppose the Nkomazi Local Municipality’s latest valuation roll that puts the value of the property at R1.3 billion. The parties settled after the Valuation Appeal Board said the property could be categorised as residential property worth R750 million for the 2014-2018 valuation roll.
When the company opposed the valuation roll in 2017, it would have been paying R8.8 million a year – the same amount the Nkomazi municipality is now angling to receive from it. “He is prepared to spend more on lawyers than paying us money that would be distributed to all,” he added.