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Businessman Edwin Sodi accused of failing to comply with a court order
Edwin Sodi could face a possible arrest or a writ of execution to sell his assets as it appears that he failed to comply with a court order to pay his estranged wife, Nthateng Lerata, a divorce settlement of R24 million.
Lerata was granted the order by the Johannesburg High Court in July last year.
However, Sodi failed to honour the agreement.
On 24 July last year, Judge Johannes Strijdom gave Sodi 40 days to pay Lerata R24 million, warning that failure to do so would result in his assets being attached.
READ: Edwin Sodi slapped with a R400 million tax bill
According to a source close to the couple, more than a year later, Sodi has failed to pay the stipulated amount despite an execution order and contempt of court hanging over his head.
The source close to the estranged couple, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said:
He is in possession of the court order and despite it directing him to make payment within 40 days; he has failed to do so without mentioning reasons.
According to the notice of motion served to Sodi this month [August 2024], he could also face up to 90 days of imprisonment.
“It is declared that the Respondent (Edwin Sodi) is guilty of contempt of court for failure to comply with a court order. The respondent is directed to submit himself to the SA Police Service, for failing to comply with the court order,” read the notice.
READ: Court orders Edwin Sodi to pay estranged wife R24m, or face asset seizure
In the notice, Lerata cites that Sodi is allegedly committing an act of disobedience by failing to adhere to the order.
“I submit that there can be no doubt Edwin [Sodi] is aware of the court order especially as he brought the application before this honourable court to have the settlement agreement made an order of the court. He is thus aware of the terms of the settlement agreement and what is required of him to do,” read the notice.
Lerata had argued in her initial papers that she had been in a bitter legal dispute with Sodi since August 2016, when she had lodged her first court application. That subsequently led to a 2023 court order instructing him to honour their settlement.
READ: Sodi’s flashy life and botched tenders
However, in Sodi’s answering affidavit within the same period, he maintained that he was not in contempt of the court order, as the dispute between the former couple had been extinguished by the terms of the settlement agreement.
Sodi filed a notice of intention to defend the order granted to Lerata, denying that he had not honoured the monetary aspects of the settlement agreement.
Furthermore, Judge Johannes Strijdom had ruled that the occupants of Sodi’s luxury house in Bryanston in Johannesburg ought to vacate in compliance with the settlement agreement.
READ: Edwin Sodi disputes R27 million settlement agreement with ex-wife
In her initial application, Lerata stated that Sodi had agreed to pay her R200 000 every month.
She said in the court papers that she had no other option but to go the legal route, considering that Sodi had failed to honour his obligations in terms of the settlement agreement.
Her court papers read:
I seek to enforce that agreement by way of seeking payment from Sodi, his family trust and companies. At the outset, I point out that, when he failed to comply with obligations in terms of the settlement agreement, I was of the view that such conduct amounted to a repudiation of the agreement.
In February this year, City Press reported that the SA Revenue Service was on Sodi’s heels, threatening to seize his assets if he failed to pay more than R400 million of outstanding tax debt.
While all of Sodi’s known numbers went straight to voicemail when City Press contacted him for a comment on the matter, Lerata’s phone rang unanswered. A written inquiry was also sent to Lerata but she did not respond.
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“Businessman Edwin Sodi accused of failing to comply with a court order.”
Source Link: https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/businessman-edwin-sodi-faces-arrest-over-unpaid-r24m-divorce-settlement-20240813
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