Scandals actor, Sello Maake ka-Ncube in R4m feud with ex-lover

Legal row involves funds given to the couple by the National Lottery Board Trust Fund.

Legendary actor Sello Maake ka-Ncube is embroiled in a legal drama with his ex-girlfriend, Thandi Ngcobo, over R4 million they received from the National Lottery Board Trust Fund while they were still a couple.

Maake ka-Ncube has obtained an order from the North Gauteng High Court to freeze the funds, which are held in the bank account of Ngcobo's organisation, Batebang Community Services.

Ngcobo has challenged the order and the matter will be heard at the end of October in the same court.

A source close to the pair said that when they were lovers, Maake ka-Ncube and Ngcobo wrote a joint proposal to the board.

They wanted funds to host awards for the people who work behind the scenes in the radio and television industries. They were given R4 million upfront and were supposed to get another R1 million after the awards.

The ceremony was supposed to be co-hosted by Maake ka-Ncube's Sello Maake ka-Ncube Foundation and Ngcobo's Batebang Foundation.

"Thandi suggested that they do this so they could generate an income for Sello as he did not have a stable source of income and he wanted to marry her," said the source.

Their relationship ended acrimoniously in 2011 after, it's alleged, Ngcobo discovered that Maake ka-Ncube was having an affair.

So bad was the break-up in fact that Ngcobo had to obtain a court order to get her furniture from Maake ka-Ncube's Dube home in Soweto.

The board only approved funding for their proposed project in May this year.

In court papers seen by City Press, Maake ka-Ncube, who plays Daniel Nyathi on e.tv primetime soapie Scandal, wrote a letter to the board and complained that Ngcobo refused to let him access the funds.

The board then took the matter to the North Gauteng High Court, where the bank account into which it deposited R4 million was frozen. Board CEO Thabang Mampane said in court papers that after the funds were deposited into the Ngcobo organisation's back account by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Ngcobo was expected to transfer these funds to Maake ka-Ncube's organisation within 14 days.

But Mampane says in court papers that Ngcobo's organisation "obliterated" the funds.

"I wish to impress on the above honourable court that the monies totalling R4 million were transferred into the account of the first respondent (Ngcobo) by June 27, 2013 and upon enquiring from the second respondent (Ka Ncube), it is discovered that only R116 276.10 is left in the account," said Mampane.

Mampane argues in papers before the court that the account be frozen because the project was Maake ka-Ncube's intellectual property.

Sources said that Ngcobo contacted her lawyers immediately after the order was granted to challenge it.

She also indicated that she would go ahead with the Screen Excellence Awards, billed for Durban on October 26, because the ceremony was not interdicted.

Mampane declined to comment and referred City Press to the board's lawyers. Ngcobo said: "I cannot comment as the matter is sub judice."

The board's lawyer, Nthetologe Raphela of Raphela Incorporated, declined to comment, saying the matter was "sub judice".

Maake ka-Ncube said: "I have no comment about that. Speak to Lotto."