Latest news with #Viljoen
The Citizen
16-07-2025
- The Citizen
It felt like a war zone: Limpopo woman recalls gas cylinder explosion and forest fire
Rene Viljoen, the programme co-ordinator at Warriors Academy, will never forget how the sound of explosions jolted her awake and the mountain lit up in flames. Letaba Herald reports that in the early hours of this morning, Viljoen was awoken by what she described as the sound of an 'attack in a war zone', only to discover that a truck carrying gas cylinders had exploded above Magoebaskloof Ruskamp, triggering a forest fire and a string of thunderous blasts that rocked the area. Terrifyingly close to the scene, Viljoen described how the forest came 'alive with fire', each blast illuminating the darkness like a signal flare. With adrenaline surging and sleep impossible, she joined others in watching the inferno unfold. 'I was afraid of a forest fire that could get out of control,' she wrote in a Facebook post just hours later, still reeling from the chaos. The fear was not unfounded. The explosion closed the R71 and sent flames racing down the mountainside, dangerously close to Warriors Camp. 'I am not sure what happened, and I hope the driver escaped,' she added. Later information revealed that the driver had managed to get away without injury. Emergency services – Letaba Fire Protection Association, Tzaneen Fire Brigade, SARZA Limpopo, Disaster Management and the Tzaneen Emergency Support Team – descended on the area swiftly, battling both flames and treacherous terrain. By 04:30, teams were still working to contain the blaze, but accessing the actual site of the explosion remained too risky. Staff from Warriors Camp rushed towards the scene despite not knowing the extent of the danger. 'They ran to assist, not knowing what they were heading to,' Viljoen said. Others stayed back, preparing spray cans and water to defend their homes against the advancing fire. By morning, the flames had subsided, replaced by the blinking lights of emergency crews. But for Viljoen, the emotional fire still raged. 'I'm sure I'll crash and fall asleep this afternoon,' she said. 'Just too much adrenaline released. Survival instinct.' Local WhatsApp groups claim the driver lost control of the truck when the brakes failed. The R71 between Polokwane and Tzaneen has since officially reopened to motorists following the explosion. The Limpopo Department of Transport confirmed the road is safe for use after fire crews managed to contain and extinguish the blaze that spread through the forest near the Magoebaskloof Ruskamp. Watch the video: Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
Car payment defaulter wins against Westbank over repossessed vehicle
Consumers have rights under the National Credit Act and banks must adhere to the Act before it can simply repossess a car of a payment defaulter. Image: File Banks that want to repossess a vehicle in a case where the owner has fallen in arrears with the monthly instalments are obliged to comply with the National Credit Act (NCA) to ensure that the consumer is aware that the bank is considering litigation against the payment defaulter. This was made clear by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in a case where Wesbank obtained an order by default against the vehicle owner, Charl Viljoen, because he never defended the matter in court. Viljoen told the court that he only heard a month after the order was made that his car was now repossessed. To make matters worse, the vehicle has meanwhile been sold at auction by the bank. He successfully turned to court to have the default judgment overturned, as he claimed he had no idea that legal proceedings were going to be taken against him. The bank, on the other hand, maintained that he did receive a section 129 notice and that summons was subsequently issued against him. Counsel for the bank, however, could not prove that Viljoen ever saw either notice. A section 129 notice is a formal notification required by the NCA in South Africa before a credit provider can take legal action against a consumer for defaulting on a credit agreement. It serves as a warning that the consumer is in arrears and provides options for resolving the debt. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading The court said: 'It is most unfortunate that, in these circumstances, the applicant's (Viljoen) vehicle was sold as there was blatant non-compliance with the NCA.' Although the court ruled in favour of Viljoen, the horse had already bolted, as the vehicle was meanwhile sold. The court said Viljoen may have a claim in this regard, but his attorneys can advise him of remedies possibly available to him in law. Wesbank told the court that it made all attempts possible to inform Viljoen that he was in arrears of more than R76 000 on the Pajero. One of its agents phoned him about the arrears, but it is claimed that Viljoen dropped the call. Later, a field agent went to his home, but it was claimed that Viljoen said he would make payments once he had regained employment, after which he drove off. Wesbank said it subsequently sent Viljoen an email informing him that his account was in arrears and that all attempts made to contact him had been unsuccessful, ultimately resulting in the bank instituting legal action. Viljoen claimed that he never received this email. The bank said it then sent the section 129 notice to Viljoen via registered post. It furnished the court with documentation in this regard, as well as with a post office 'track and trace report.' This report pertained to Wesbank following the movements of the 129 notice sent to the Post Office.
IOL News
01-07-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
Court ruling highlights banks' obligations under the National Credit Act
Consumers have rights under the National Credit Act and banks must adhere to the Act before it can simply repossess a car of a payment defaulter. Image: File Banks that want to repossess a vehicle in a case where the owner has fallen in arrears with the monthly instalments are obliged to comply with the National Credit Act (NCA) to ensure that the consumer is aware that the bank is considering litigation against the payment defaulter. This was made clear by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in a case where Wesbank obtained an order by default against the vehicle owner, Charl Viljoen, because he never defended the matter in court. Viljoen told the court that he only heard a month after the order was made that his car was now repossessed. To make matters worse for him, the vehicle has meanwhile been sold at auction by the bank. He successfully turned to court to have the default judgment overturned, as he claimed he had no idea that legal proceedings were going to be taken against him. The bank, on the other hand, maintained that he did receive a section 129 notice and that summons was subsequently issued against him. Counsel for the bank, however, could not prove that Viljoen ever saw either notice. A section 129 notice is a formal notification required by the NCA in South Africa before a credit provider can take legal action against a consumer for defaulting on a credit agreement. It serves as a warning that the consumer is in arrears and provides options for resolving the debt. The court said, 'It is most unfortunate that, in these circumstances, the applicant's (Viljoen) vehicle was sold as there was blatant non-compliance with the NCA.' Although the court ruled in favour of Viljoen, the horse had already bolted, as the vehicle was meanwhile sold. In disregard, the court said Viljoen may have a claim in this regard, but his attorneys can advise him of remedies possibly available to him in law. Wesbank told the court that it made all attempts possible to inform Viljoen that he was in arrears of more than R76,000 on the Pajero. One of its agents phoned him about the arrears, but it is claimed that Viljoen dropped the call. Later, a field agent went to his home, but it was claimed that Viljoen said he would make payments once he had regained employment, after which he drove off. Wesbank said it subsequently sent Viljoen an email informing him that his account was in arrears and that all attempts made to contact him had been unsuccessful, ultimately resulting in the bank instituting legal action. Viljoen claimed that he never received this email. The bank said it then sent the section 129 notice to Viljoen via registered post. It furnished the court with documentation in this regard, as well as with a post office 'track and trace report.' This report pertained to Wesbank following the movements of the 129 notice sent to the Post Office.
The Citizen
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Place your bets please
Respected investment manager Piet Viljoen took a huge bet by getting involved in Goldrush. Is it time for a big payout? Gaming player Goldrush has a 50% stake in Sizekhaya, which will operate the National Lottery for eight years from June 2026. Picture: AdobeStock Founder and chief executive of the erstwhile Regarding Capital Management (RECM) is well known and well respected in SA's investment community. It is a reputation he built by delivering good returns over many decades by investing in solid, if sometimes boring, shares. That a value investor put a big bet on a gambling company that operates bingo games, one-armed bandits, online gambling and sports betting might have surprised many of his followers. He now has a piece of the National Lottery – and it looks like the punt on gambling company Goldrush Group will pay off within a year or so. The price of the listed Goldrush Holdings preference shares doubled within days of the announcement that Sizekhaya Holdings was awarded the licence to take over the operations of South Africa's National Lottery for a period of eight years. Goldrush Group has a share of 50% in Sizekhaya, which will reduce to 40% once other shareholders are introduced into Sizekhaya per the lottery licence conditions. The Goldrush prefs were trading below R5 at the beginning of May 2025, but jumped to R10 by 29 May after the minister of trade, industry and competition announced the winning bidder of the lottery licence. Read more Both Lotto and PowerBall had jackpot winners over the weekend The ordinary shares, which hold the voting rights, are not listed. Viljoen is still focused on investment management and manages billions on behalf of clients. Still, Goldrush slowly became a big investment in RECM. Eventually, the listed RECM sold its other investments and transformed into an operating gambling operation. Goldrush Holdings owns nearly 60% of the operating business, Goldrush Group. The group describes itself as a diversified gaming group with interests in sports betting, limited payout machine operations, bingo and a casino, as well as operating internet gambling sites. It says its activities include more than 4 400 electronic bingo terminals in 37 premises in six provinces, more than 2 700 gambling machines in 417 sports in seven provinces, 27 sports betting outlets in four provinces and two online sports betting sites. It claims over 20 years of operating in the SA and African gambling market and says it employs around 2 000 people. ALSO READ: You can still play Lotto today, after last minute announcement Billions Gambling in SA is a multi-billion-rand industry. Goldrush, only one of several big operators in SA, published its results for the year to end March 2025 on Monday, disclosing that gambling income increased by 5.6% over the previous year to R1.85 billion. This income comprises its net winnings, after paying out lucky gamblers. Revenue from selling food and beverages to gamblers added another R70 million. Operating profit came to R242 million and earnings after interest and tax amounted to just below R120 million. Jan van Niekerk, financial director of Goldrush, says RECM (and the Astoria private equity fund based in Mauritius) became big investors in Goldrush some 10 years ago. As with any private equity investment, the investment managers became closely involved in the business. 'Goldrush has shown good growth, because of a good management team,' he says, adding that the focus is to continue to grow profitability in order to reduce debt. The company is looking to increase its online offerings, but figures included in the annual results indicate that Goldrush can also increase its limited payout presence. It currently has 2 763 machines, but is licensed to operate 5 200. ALSO READ: Big change to Lotto operations: Will tickets be on sale next week? Lotto Viljoen and Van Niekerk are careful to tone down expectations about the national lottery licence in view of media reports claiming the operator will make billions. Van Niekerk says Sizekhaya will operate the lottery totally independent of Goldrush. 'Sizekhaya has the right and the obligation to promote and administer the sales of lottery tickets for the National Lottery,' says Van Niekerk. 'From the sales of the tickets, half of the proceeds must be used to fund payments to Lotto winners. 'After this, there is a compulsory contribution to the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, a separate statutory entity established by the National Lotteries Commission to fund charitable and developmental initiatives across South Africa. 'From the remainder of the sales, the operator must fund the expenses of running the lottery. If it manages to do this efficiently, it will be left with a profit.' Viljoen added some perspective in his commentary to the results. 'Since the announcement, many of our shareholders have asked us to help them understand the value of this licence to Goldrush. 'Without being too glib about its prospects, we would caution shareholders to exercise appropriate judgement when reading any news about the National Lottery,' says Viljoen. 'The licence to operate the national lottery is obviously valuable. Helpfully, technology has improved and the cost of technology has reduced since the inception of the previous lottery periods. ALSO READ: Lotto jackpot is over R100m tonight, here are the biggest SA winners 'Some of the publicly available information we can share with you to help you shape your expectations is that the annual lottery ticket sales revenue in the most recently disclosed year was R6.5 billion. We think that a competent operator should make a profit margin in the low to mid-single digits,' he says. This indicates that profiting from the Lotto operations will be a year or two away as the starting date of the eight-year term is only 1 June 2026. 'The framework we use to think about the value to our shareholders is that the first year's profits will have to pay for the equipment and set-up costs (the business and physical infrastructure needed to run the business) and, on our assumption of the profit margins, shareholders of the operator could expect seven annual dividend payments after that,' says Van Niekerk. 'For the next year, Sizekhaya will be building the business infrastructure and physical infrastructure needed to take over the running of the lottery on 1 June 2026.' ALSO READ: National Lotteries Commission rolls out lifestyle audits, anti-fraud initiatives 'to rebuild trust' Lucrative The lottery contract is lucrative. The latest available annual report from the National Lotteries Commission discloses that the current operator generated nearly R7.3 billion in ticket sales in the year to March 2024. It notes that the contribution to good causes was R1.8 billion. It says the operator spent R968 million in procuring goods and services to support lottery operations. The listed Goldrush preference shares offer direct economic exposure to all of the Goldrush Group's interests. Preference shareholders can expect dividends based on gambling operations, including the future profits from Sizekhaya's running of the national lottery. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
IOL News
26-06-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Bellville mom's bid to summit Kilimanjaroin aid of fight against GBV
Mount Kilimanjaro Image: Supplied A Cape Town mother of two and wellness coach has set off to summit Mount Kilimanjaro this week, not for personal glory but to raise awareness and funds for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). Leonie Viljoen, from Boston, Bellville, has survived abuse twice in her life. She started her ascent of Africa's highest peak on Wednesday as part of a group of eight climbers. The eight-day trek is part of a campaign in support of 1000 Women Trust, a women-led organisation focused on creating safe spaces and support structures for women affected by GBV. Leonie Viljoen Image: Supplied Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'This is not about the thrill or the photo at the summit,' said Viljoen. 'I climb for the women who have endured pain deeper than any crevasse on that mountain." Viljoen said each step she takes will be dedicated to survivors of abuse who are often silenced or ignored. 'Each step I take is for the woman silenced by fear. For the girl told her pain is private. For the survivor who wakes up every day and chooses to keep going. The altitude will test my body, but it's their stories that weigh on my heart. And it's their strength that will push me higher. 'Many women suffer sexual abuse and don't know what their rights are, or what appropriate and meaningful next steps should look like. "The trauma often drives them into despair rather than into a space where they can report it. That is where an organisation like 1000 Women Trust is enormously helpful.' She said the trust has been a lifeline to many women through trauma training and its GBV Warriors initiative, which creates community-based structures that offer support, safety and empowerment. Viljoen encouraged the public to support her efforts by donating through her GivenGain page, with all proceeds going to the organisation. The fundraising page can be found at She also called on women across South Africa to take part in a virtual walk in solidarity. Participants are invited to run, walk or cycle 5895 metres, matching Kilimanjaro's elevation at a location and time of their choosing. They can register by emailing intern@ Participants in the virtual event will receive a 1000 Women Trust T-shirt and a token of recognition for their involvement. Cape Argus
