The Please Call Me saga, which spanned several courts in South Africa and at least one in London, has revealed new details about the entities involved in the case. British Virgin Islands-registered Black Rock Mining, which Errol Elsdon says funded Nkosana Makate’s fight against Vodacom, ceased to exist in 2014.
According to the report, an arbitrator later found that the transfer of Black Rock’s claimed right to 40% of Makate’s winnings to a new entity, Raining Men, was fraudulent. Raining Men has Tracey Röscher and Elsdon as directors.
The Arbitration Ruling
The arbitration ruling, made by advocate Andrew Mabena in 2020, found that Black Rock’s deregistration left Elsdon and Christian Schoeman needing another entity to claim a share of Makate’s potential future winnings. The solution, according to Mabena, was to replace the deregistered Black Rock with Raining Men through an addendum.
Related: NTT Data SA ramps up recruitment efforts
The arbitrator noted that the addendum, purportedly signed on 24 April 2014, was fraudulent.
The Role of Raining Men
Raining Men didn’t seem to exist in April 2014, according to Mabena. The company’s records show that Elsdon and Röscher were only appointed as directors on 13 November 2014. Recent company records also show that Raining Men has been in business rescue since 22 January 2019.
Elsdon himself testified that he obtained Raining Men as a shelf company on 15 April 2014, in conjunction with Röscher. However, Elsdon was at a loss to explain why the change of directors of Raining Men was only lodged at the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) on 13 November 2014.
Related: OpenAI launches tool for enterprise AI agents
To understand the significance of this case, it’s essential to consider the broader context of the Please Call Me saga and its impact on the parties involved.
The Aftermath
The arbitration ruling has significant implications for the parties involved. Makate has separately claimed that Elsdon diverted some of the £250,000 funding for his own personal gain, directing attorneys representing the fund to, in July 2013, transfer £75 000 each to Cyprus-based Delcay Holdings Limited and his own Cyprus bank account.
The case highlights the importance of transparency in business dealings.
